Rewriting the Rules: Game-based Learning for Affective and Cognitive Student Engagement in an Undergraduate History Course
Keywords:
gamification, gamified learning, student engagement, undergraduate education, history education, affective engagement, cognitive engagement, game-based learningAbstract
Constructivist psychology has long demonstrated the potential for play to offer various benefits to learning. This study introduced active game-based learning experiences, in the form of role-playing games, into an undergraduate history course that also included passive lecture and discussion elements. Mixed methods student feedback surveys were used to examine the impacts of game-based learning on students’ affective and cognitive engagement in the course and offer a comparison between the lecture and game-based learning experiences. Qualitative data were analyzed through the paradigm of Mohsen, Abdollahi, and Omar’s (2019, 518-520) framework for educational value, including affective evaluation, conceptual understanding, skill development, and experiential learning. Students’ affective and cognitive engagement during game-based learning were consistently high. While students expressed a slight affective preference for lecture, their cognitive engagement was significantly higher during game-based learning, highlighting benefits beyond those offered by lecture. These results are situated within the context of the extant literature on game-based learning and student engagement and the need for continued exploration of beneficial connections between these constructs, specifically within the higher education classroom setting.
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