The effectiveness of a serious game based on evolution on the motivation, action, and achievement of middle school science students

Abstract

Getting students to engage with schoolwork is not always an easy task. Lessons that have elements of games and serious games have the potential to increase motivation, which may also improve learning outcomes. But research has found mixed results on the achievement effects of educational games, and not enough research has shown the effectiveness of educational games on evolution-related topics specifically. This study aimed to implement a game that revolves around the mechanisms of evolution and evaluated that game’s effects on secondary-level students’ motivation and learning. Four middle school life science students and four high school biology students of varying ability levels played a game designed to teach three mechanisms of evolution over the course of two periods over two days, for a total of two hours. They were then surveyed on their levels of motivation and thoughts on the game itself both via a likert-type survey and informal interviews. Data on the knowledge they gained from the game were collected via a traditional summative assessment. Gamification had a consistently positive impact on student motivation when learning about evolution-related topics as measured by self-report likert-type surveys, observations, and informal observations. Achievement scores from assessments administered after playing an educational game, however, were lower than those administered after traditional lessons