Article 2023

Associating spatial knowledge with concept maps to facilitate learning in digital gaming contexts

HG
Hwang, Gwojen
 LY
Lin, Yu Chun
 LH
Lin, Hui Chen
Educational Technology Research and Development
Journal · Vol. 71 · Issue 6 · pp. 2221-2241
Abstract

In conventional digital game-based learning, geographic maps are generally used to provide students with the whole picture of the gaming contexts, while the concepts to be learned are separately presented as individual gaming objects. Scholars have indicated the problems of such a gaming content design, in which students could encounter difficulties making effective connections between spatial and conceptual knowledge during the learning process, which may influence their learning effectiveness. As a result, it is a crucial and challenging issue to assist students in organizing spatial and conceptual knowledge in contextual learning environments, such as digital games. To solve this problem, an integrated concept map and geographic map-based digital gaming (CM-GMDG) approach is proposed to demonstrate how spatial and conceptual knowledge can be connected in the development of digital games. To investigate the effectiveness of the approach, a quasi-experiment was conducted in a social science course. Two classes of seventh graders in a high school participated in this study. The experimental group (N = 39) adopted the CM-GMDG approach while the control group (N = 23) adopted the conventional geographic map-based digital gaming (GMDG) approach. The results showed that the students using the CM-GMDG approach significantly outperformed those using the GMDG approach on learning achievement. Moreover, the learning behavioral pattern analysis results showed that compared with the control group, students in the experimental group more frequently engaged in knowledge-acquiring behaviors, such as reading learning materials and completing learning tasks. On the other hand, the control group gave up on the learning tasks more frequently by switching the gaming scenes and stopping answering questions. This indicated that the CM-GMDG approach was more helpful for guiding students to focus on their learning tasks than the GMDG approach. © 2023, Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

Keywords

Author Keywords

digital game-based learning Concept mapping Concept Maps Social science

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Graduate Institute of Educational Information and Measurement, National Taichung University of Education, Taichung, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
School of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, Center for Nursing and Healthcare Research in Clinical Practice Application, Taipei Municipal Wan-Fang Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Funding & Acknowledgements
Ministry of Education, MOE
Funding text 1: This work was supported from Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, (Grant Nos. MOST 109-2511-H-167-001 and MOST-109-2511-H-011-002-MY3).; Funding text 2: This study is supported in part by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan under contract numbers NSTC 112-2410-H-011-012-MY3 and MOST 111-2410-H-011 -007 -MY3. The study is also supported by the “Empower Vocational Education Research Center” of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) from the Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.
National Science and Technology Council, NSTC
Grant: NSTC 112-2410-H-011-012-MY3
Funding text 1: This work was supported from Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, (Grant Nos. MOST 109-2511-H-167-001 and MOST-109-2511-H-011-002-MY3).; Funding text 2: This study is supported in part by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan under contract numbers NSTC 112-2410-H-011-012-MY3 and MOST 111-2410-H-011 -007 -MY3. The study is also supported by the “Empower Vocational Education Research Center” of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) from the Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.
Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, MOST
Grant: 109-2511-H-167-001, 111-2410-H-011 -007 -MY3, MOST-109-2511-H-011-002-MY3
Funding text 1: This work was supported from Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, (Grant Nos. MOST 109-2511-H-167-001 and MOST-109-2511-H-011-002-MY3).; Funding text 2: This study is supported in part by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan under contract numbers NSTC 112-2410-H-011-012-MY3 and MOST 111-2410-H-011 -007 -MY3. The study is also supported by the “Empower Vocational Education Research Center” of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) from the Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, NTUST
Funding text 1: This work was supported from Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, (Grant Nos. MOST 109-2511-H-167-001 and MOST-109-2511-H-011-002-MY3).; Funding text 2: This study is supported in part by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan under contract numbers NSTC 112-2410-H-011-012-MY3 and MOST 111-2410-H-011 -007 -MY3. The study is also supported by the “Empower Vocational Education Research Center” of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) from the Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.
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