A school that bridges students between elementary and high school. In the U.S., middle school often contains grades 6 through 8 (Junior High is often considered 7 through 8) and where students typically ranges from 11 years old to 14 years old.
Published in Chapter:
Motivating By Design: Using Digital-Game Based Learning Techniques to Create an Interesting Problem-Based Learning Environment
Paul Toprac (Southern Methodist University, USA)
Copyright: © 2011
|Pages: 27
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-495-0.ch014
Abstract
This chapter describes how to design a motivating educational game for middle school students using digital-game based learning techniques in a problem-based learning environment. Specifically, The Alien Rescue Game (TARG), a problem-based digital-game based learning program, is compared to commercial digital games to determine how to design a motivating educational game. Results showed that students believed that their interest in learning science was influenced by their self-efficacy, attainment value, intrinsic value, utility value, cost perceptions, and knowledge. Furthermore, these same influences affected players’ perceptions of and experience with commercial digital games. Thus, these motivational constructs should be considered when developing educational games, with self-efficacy, intrinsic value, knowledge, and cost being the most important based. Intrinsic motivation sources were found to be control, challenge, immersion, and socializing. Considerations and implications for the design of motivating digital game-based learning programs, recommendations, and future research directions are presented.