How Digital Scaffolds in Educational Games Affect Learning and Motivation Sha Yang, Brian T. Berndt, Dr. William Watson Learning, Design & Technology Purdue University

Purpose This study examines whether full and limited digital scaffolds in an educational computer game affect players’ learning outcome and motivation for the topic differently. This study will have implications for the design of digital scaffolds in educational video games.

Introduction The literature on the use of scaffolds for learning is significant; however, there remains a scarcity of literature on scaffolds in the use of digital games for instruction, and particularly on built-in scaffolds in educational games.

Research Question With digital game-based learning, how do learning outcomes and motivation compare between learners who play an educational computer game with limited scaffolds and those who play the game with full scaffolds?

Participants Forty-seven undergraduates (46 Caucasian and 1 Asian) Forty-six of them with no prior knowledge of Japanese shown by pretest.

Materials Game An educational computer game was developed to help players learn the basic Japanese characters known as hiragana. Scaffolds Version A (Full scaffolds): Romaji on Cards, Hover Hints, Recommended Match Version B (Limited scaffolds): Color Hints, Hiragana Table, Recommended Match

Romaji on Cards (Full Scaffolds)

Color Hints (Limited Scaffolds)

Turn off Scaffolds

Pre- and post-motivation questionnaire Pre- and post knowledge test Game profile tracking achievements and what scaffolding they used. Individual interviews

Procedure Participants were randomly and equally divided into two groups. Participants filled in a pre-intervention questionnaire on their knowledge of Japanese and their motivation for learning Japanese. Half of the students played Version A of the game and the other half played Version B. After they played for twenty minutes, we suggested them to try to turn off the English underneath each card in the game, or to switch to intermediate mode, but they did not have to. Participants played the game for 40 minutes in all. Participants filled in a post-intervention questionnaire on their knowledge of Japanese and their motivation for learning Japanese. Five participants were selected for 15-minute individual interview two weeks later.

Analysis Is time significant ? Is the type of scaffolds significant ? Motivation Yes No Attention Relevance Confidence Satisfaction Learning

Results Both groups’ motivation decreased after playing the game. Full scaffolds are not significantly different from limited scaffolds in affecting learners’ motivation. The group using limited scaffolds had slightly higher motivation than the group using full scaffolds. Two groups’ learning outcomes improve after playing the game. Full scaffolds are not significantly different from limited scaffolds in improving learners’ learning outcome. Learners’ performance was not highly correlated to their scores in the posttest.

Discussion No prior knowledge of Japanese results in frustration and motivational decrease. Whether scaffolds facilitate learning depends on how the scaffolds are used. - Some learners did not use scaffolds all the time and tried to learn the language. - Some learners used scaffolds all the time to win the game rather than trying to LEARN something.

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