Game-Based Learning of the Structure and Functioning of Body Cells in a Foreign Language: Effects on Motivation, Cognitive Load, and Performance

Research has evidenced that digital educational games can be effective tools to impart knowledge. Researchers have recommended to focus on motivation and gaming load and their interaction when investigating learning process and success. Gaming expertise and the English proficiency of learners seem to be further important aspects of learning success, especially when non-native speakers play an English game. However, knowledge about the motivational and cognitive impact of games and learner characteristics on learning outcomes needs to be augmented and clarified. The present study aimed to address this need. We conducted an experimental media comparison to investigate the effects of game play and expertise in gaming and English on motivation, cognitive load, and performance. The participating German university students were randomly assigned to an educational gaming group and a hypertext group. Aspects of motivation were assessed before and after studying and gaming, cognitive load was rated during and after learning, and level of performance was measured before and after studying. The gaming group reported a higher level of interest, challenge, and anxiety of failing after introducing the task. Groups did not differ significantly in their perceived probability of success. The group levels of interest were the same after a one-hour learning phase. When learning, cognitive load increased after the initial phase in the gaming group and then stayed on a constant level, whereas the opposite pattern was found in the hypertext group. No differences were found in load ratings after learning between the two groups. Both groups improved their knowledge after learning, but the gain was larger for the hypertext group. Results point to gaming and English expertise as two mediating factors for learning success with educational games. We suggest that gaming expertise and English comprehension ability reduce cognitive load and thus enable learners to focus their resources on meaningful learning.


1
Which are the most important parts of an animal eukaryotic cell? (FK; L 4) 2 In contrast to smooth ER, the rough ER is studded with … on its exterior surface. (FK; L 3) RNA ribosomes microtubule lysosomes I do not know 3 Which statement about peroxisomes is correct? (FK; L 3) peroxisomes are capable of self-replication peroxisomes are vesicles split off from the Golgi body peroxisomes don't have a detoxication function peroxisomes exclusively appear in prokaryotes I do not know 4 What is the function of lysosomes in a cell? (FK; L 4) lysosomes contain enzymes for the intracellular digestion, e.g., of a bacterium lysosomes are needed for the cleavage of DNA lysosomes are needed for protein biosynthesis 5 What does ATP stand for? (FK; L 1) adepine triphosphate adenosine triphosphate adesine triphlatate adesine triphosphate I do not know 6 When tadpoles undergo metamorphosis to become a frog, they lose their tails. Which cell organelle contributes significantly to this degradation process? (TK; L 4) centrosome mitochondrion lysosome peroxisome I do not know 7 The HI virus possesses a membrane of its own, which is capable of fusing with a cell membrane because of particular surface proteins.  Table S2.
Items used for measuring cognitive load while learning and assessing the number of trials students needed to finish a game level.  Table S5.
Items used for measuring the students' interest post-training (by the adapted interest scale of the QCM; Rheinberg et al., 2001), their level of domain-specific knowledge, and their level of cognitive load while learning. Items marked with a "g" were used for the game group, items with an "h" for the hypertext group.
1g 1h I like the educational game CellCraft. I like the multimedia learning environment.
totally disagree 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 totally agree 2g 2h The educational game CellCraft was very interesting to me. The multimedia learning environment was very interesting to me.
totally disagree 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 totally agree 3 For tasks like this I do not need a reward, they are lots of fun anyhow. totally disagree 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 totally agree 4g 4h I would work on an educational game like CellCraft even in my free time. I would work on a multimedia learning environment like this even in my free time.
totally disagree 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 totally agree 5g 5h In CellCraft, I enjoyed playing the role of a scientist who is discovering relationships between things. In the multimedia learning environment, I enjoyed playing the role of a scientist who is discovering relationships between things.
totally disagree 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 totally agree 6g 6h After playing CellCraft, my knowledge about cell biology is significantly higher than before. After studying in a multimedia learning environment, my knowledge about cell biology is significantly higher than before.
totally disagree 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 totally agree 7g 7h My mental load while playing CellCraft was .… My mental load while studying the multimedia learning environment was .… very, very low 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 very, very high 2 Original German items of the questionnaires used for assessments Table S6. German items of the prior knowledge pretest, which is identical to the posttest of performance. The tests comprised 10 single-choice items with four alternative answers. An additional option allowed to state that they do not know the answer. The correct answers are written in italics. Six questions assess factual knowledge (FK) and four questions transfer of knowledge (TK). The relevant level at which the information was introduced is shown (L).  Table S7. Items assessing experience with computer games and learning environments (items 1 to 5), cell biology in general (items 6 and 7), the current interest in cell biology (item 8), experience with reading English texts (item 9) and the ease of comprehending English texts (item 10). Item 5g was used for the game group, Item 5h for the hypertext group. Wie stark schätzen Sie Ihre Erfahrungen mit multimedialen Lernspielen ein? sehr gering 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 sehr stark 5h Wie stark schätzen Sie Ihre Erfahrungen mit multimedialen Lernumgebungen ein? 6 Haben Sie schon einmal ein Seminar zum Thema Zellbiologie besucht? Ja 7 Wie schätzen Sie Ihr Vorwissen auf dem Gebiet der Zellbiologie ein? sehr niedrig 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 sehr hoch 8 Wie schätzen Sie Ihr Interesse an Themen der Zellbiologie ein? sehr niedrig 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 sehr hoch 9 Das Lesen und Verstehen von englischen Texten ist fester Bestandteil meines Studiums.
The Questionnaire on Current Motivation measures the four motivational factors of anxiety (AN), probability of success (PS), interest (IN), and challenge (CH). The items were taken from Rheinberg, Vollmeyer and Burns (2001), except item 1, which was adapted to the learning task. Item 1g was used for the game group and item 1h for the hypertext group. Note: -= item has to be inverted  Table S10.
Items used for measuring the students' interest post-training (by the adapted interest scale of the QCM; Rheinberg et al., 2001), their level of domain-specific knowledge, and their level of cognitive load while learning. Items marked with a "g" were used for the game group and items with an "h" for the hypertext group. sehr, sehr gering 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 sehr, sehr hoch