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Do Computer -Based Games Facilitate Knowledge Acquisition and Retention?
Katrina E. Ricci, Eduardo Salas, and Janis A. Cannon-Bowers
Military Psychology, 8(4), 295-307

The motive of the present research was to augment the breadth of literature in the field of computer-based gaming.  At the time of this study, the majority of literature in this area either described rather than examined games experimentally or dealt exclusively with K-12 populations rather than adults.  There also was a dearth of research examining retention and its relation to learning with computer-based games.

Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions:

1. A game condition that consisted of software developed by the Navy and Dynamics Research Corporation.  When play was initiated, 3 category choices (of which there were 5 total, randomly presented) were presented in a slot-machine fashion.  Participants selected from 1 of these choices and were subsequently presented with a relevant multiple choice question and given 3 minutes to answer.  Correct answers earned the participants points.  Regardless of choice, correct or incorrect, the correct answer was displayed following the participants’ response.
2. A text condition where content was presented in paper-based prose.  The material consisted of a 63-page handbook written in outline style.  However, it’s unclear from the article how participants demonstrated what they actually learned.
3. A test condition where content was presented in paper-based question-and-answer form.  The questions were identical to the game condition.  Immediate feedback consisted of the correct answers displayed below the questions.  This poses a problem, however, since there was no guarantee participants avoided reading the correct answers before answering the questions.

Their research hypotheses are as follows:

• Participants assigned to the game condition will perceive their training as more enjoyable and more effective than will those assigned to the text and test conditions, and they will feel more confident about their learning.

• Participants assigned to the game condition will achieve higher posttest scores than will those assigned to the text and test conditions.

• Participants assigned to the game condition will maintain the knowledge learned during training over a 4-week retention interval.

All participants completed a pretest, posttest (immediately following their training session), and a retention test (conducted 4-weeks following training session) presented in parallel form to their respective conditions.  The results showed that participants assigned to the game condition and the test condition performed similarly on their retention tests; however, participants assigned to the game condition scored significanly higher compared to their pretest scores.  They also scored significantly better on the retention test than participants assigned to the text condition.  Overall, the text condition was shown to be the worst instructional method, while the game and test conditions were shown to be similarly effective methods, with the game condition supporting higher long-term retention compared to pretest performance.

The authors suggest these results can be explained by the attributes of active participation and immediate feedback shared by both the game and test conditions in that they allow participants to focus directly on relevant concepts.  Active participation forces learners to use what they have learned in the process of training.  It also clarifies what has been learned and what still needs to be learned.

The authors also suggest that the game attributes of dynamic interaction, competition, novelty, and goal setting relate to the motivational appeal of the game condition.  Following their training, participants were given a reaction questionnaire where participants in the game condition rated their training as more enjoyable and effective than those in the other conditions.  The responses were related to posttest performance.  However, it is important to point out that rating training as more enjoyable did not correlate with increased learning.

To summarize, although superior to text-based instruction, computer-based game instruction is only slightly more effective than test-based instruction when compared to pretest performance.  The results of the present study provide inconclusive evidence for the effectiveness of computer-based game instruction over test-based instruction in terms of learning acquisition and retention.  Where computer-based game instruction is superior, however, is in its motivational appeal.  Further research exploring the connection between motivational appeal and learning is necessary in order to pinpoint the ways in which this appeal may be leveraged to enhance learning in the context of computer-based game instruction.

Tagged: games, instruction, learning, psychology, research