Representational-competency supports in the context of an educational video game for undergraduate astronomy
METADATA ONLY
Loading...
Author / Producer
Date
2022-12
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
no
Citations
Altmetric
METADATA ONLY
Data
Rights / License
Abstract
Educational video games can engage students in authentic STEM practices, which often involve visual representations. Specifically, because most interactions within video games are mediated through visual representations, video games provide opportunities for students to experience disciplinary practices with visuals. Research demonstrates, however, that learning from multiple visuals is complex. Prior research in structured environments has demonstrated that providing supports for representational competencies in terms of sense-making competencies and perceptual fluency can support learners, but such research has not been conducted in game environments. To address this gap, we investigated whether supports for representational competencies enhanced students' learning with an astronomy video game. We conducted an experiment with 115 students to investigate the effects of sense-making support (yes vs. no) and perceptual-fluency support (yes vs. no) within an astronomy game. Results showed that sense-making supports did not enhance students' content learning. Further, perceptual-fluency supports enhanced students' content learning outcomes only when they had high content pre-test scores. Hence, interventions that support representational competencies in non-game environments may work differently in the context of educational video games. This suggests that designers may need to develop new strategies to support students’ learning with disciplinary visuals in educational games.
Permanent link
Publication status
published
External links
Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
190
Pages / Article No.
104602
Publisher
Elsevier
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Representational competencies; Educational video games; Sense-making; Astronomy
Organisational unit
09812 - Rau, Martina / Rau, Martina