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Article
Publication date: 15 January 2025

Boyan Bontchev, Albena Antonova, Valentina Terzieva and Edelia Villarroya Soler

This paper presents an in-depth study of learners’ learning and playing styles and their implications for educational video games. This study aims to scrutinize the manifestation…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper presents an in-depth study of learners’ learning and playing styles and their implications for educational video games. This study aims to scrutinize the manifestation of learning and playing styles among learners, to identify the style predispositions and dominance and to assess the implication of these results for educational video games.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a structured model with a detailed methodology for evaluating and categorizing style predisposition and the learner’s dominant learning and playing style. The multimodal style predisposition aggregates several manifested styles at three distinguished levels to achieve more precise differentiation. The authors analyze the outcomes of an empirical field study of 676 K12 and university students, making an in-depth evaluation of their learning and playing styles.

Findings

Based on the presented model to determine the level of preferences and dominance of styles, the study reveals that multimodal style predisposition prevails for both learning and playing styles. Most learners manifest several dominant styles. While the Kinesthetic Visual, Auditory, Read/Write and Kinesthetic (VARK) learning style and Logician and Strategist playing styles prevail, the Read/Write and Competitor styles are the least preferred.

Research limitations/implications

The survey explores particular learning and playing styles – VARK and adaptive technology-enhanced platform for edutainment (ADOPTA). It covers only Bulgarian students, who share common national cultural predispositions. The different sizes of the samples (234 K12 and 432 university students) are also a limitation. Further studies should involve international and equal samples of participants.

Practical implications

Educational video games should reflect the findings about learners’ preferences and predispositions at the planning, design and practical application level.

Social implications

Game-based learning and gamification approaches in education should focus on aspects other than competition.

Originality/value

This paper presents an original methodology for modeling, evaluating and categorizing style predisposition and students’ dominant learning and playing styles and results about these styles of K12 and university students in the context of educational video games.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2021

Boyan Paskalev Bontchev, Valentina Terzieva and Elena Paunova-Hubenova

The purpose of this paper is to present principles for personalization of both learning content and gameplay in serious games for learning, which are based on a combined model of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present principles for personalization of both learning content and gameplay in serious games for learning, which are based on a combined model of the student that comprises user, learner and player-related aspects of the student’s profile. Each of the considered user, learner and player sub-models has a static and dynamic group of characteristics. These characteristics assist general approaches for learning mazes game personalization applied to embedded mini-games (designed as information units, learning objects and educational tasks) so that to be adjustable and to enable learners to acquire knowledge more effectively.

Design/methodology/approach

A student modelling approach was applied to design the personalization of learning content in the educational maze game and each of them contained mini-games. To evaluate the student’s preferences about the types of mini-games and ways of their personalization depending on individual and group student characteristics, the authors conducted an online survey.

Findings

This study presents examples of personalization of four types of mini-games available in maze halls, namely, question, searching, arranging and action games. Next, the research discusses findings from an online survey aiming at the evaluation of the preferred types of mini-games and the way of their personalization. There are analysed results concerning the impact of the student model characteristics on the preferred ways of personalization in educational maze games, together with criteria for personalization of educational resources according to student’s level of knowledge, age, goals and learning style.

Research limitations/implications

A significant limitation of the research is the relatively small number of survey participants and the lack of studying the impact of learning and playing styles over game personalization. Another limitation of the study is the inclusion of only some of the mini-games within the demonstration maze, which respondents play before answering the survey questions.

Originality/value

This paper presents original research on the personalization of educational maze game based on a model of the student profile that comprises both static and dynamic properties reflecting user, learner and player-related aspects of the student character, together with results obtained from an online survey.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 27 April 2023

Nicola Capolupo

Abstract

Details

Entrepreneurial Learning Evolutions in Startup Hubs: A Post-Pandemic Perspective for Lean Organizations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-070-0

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