Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring the User Experience and Effectiveness of Mobile Game-Based Learning in Higher Education

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Social Computing and Social Media (HCII 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14026))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Recent technological and societal changes have heightened the uptake of mobile educational games across all subjects and levels of education. Nevertheless, developing mobile games with a set of design guidelines in mind, does not necessarily imply they will naturally engage learners and improve the learning experience. Building on this tenet, this study aims to explore how higher education students experience learning programming principles by playing a maze-solving mobile educational game; evaluate how effective the game’s features are in terms of engaging students; and inquire how effective mobile devices are as a learning platform for teaching programming and algorithmic thinking. The overarching theme that emerged by analysing the gathered data is the need to promote ‘engagement by design’, indicating that subtle synergies are required between the technological qualities and design features of a mobile educational game, the pedagogical context, and human factors, towards achieving the desired level of learner engagement.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    aMazeChallenge can be downloaded from the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.inspirecenter.amazechallenge.

References

  1. Adams, S.: The role of gamification in the facilitation of student engagement: an exploratory industrial psychology application. Ph.D. thesis, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Ahmad Faudzi, M., Che Cob, Z., Omar, R., Sharudin, S.A., Ghazali, M.: Investigating the user interface design frameworks of current mobile learning applications: a systematic review. Educ. Sci. 13(1), 94 (2023)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Al Zieni, H.: The effect of mobile learning on learner autonomy: a suggested measurement tool to assess the development of learner autonomy. J. Asia TEFL 16(3), 1020 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Alasmari, T.: The effect of screen size on students’ cognitive load in mobile learning. J. Educ. Teach. Learn. 5(2), 280–295 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ally, M.: Mobile learning: from research to practice to impact education. Learn. Teach. High. Educ. Gulf Perspect. 10(2), 3–12 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Barr, V., Stephenson, C.: Bringing computational thinking to k-12: what is involved and what is the role of the computer science education community? ACM Inroads 2(1), 48–54 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bawa, P., Watson, S.L., Watson, W.: Motivation is a game: massively multiplayer online games as agents of motivation in higher education. Comput. Educ. 123, 174–194 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Carrión12, M., Santorum12, M., Aguilar, J., Peréz, M.: iPlus methodology for requirements elicitation for serious games (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Chu, H.C.: Potential negative effects of mobile learning on students’ learning achievement and cognitive load-a format assessment perspective. J. Educ. Technol. Soc. 17(1), 332–344 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  10. CodeMonkey: Coding for kids - game-based programming (2019). http://www.codemonkey.com/. Accessed 19 Dec 2019

  11. Connolly, T.M., Boyle, E.A., MacArthur, E., Hainey, T., Boyle, J.M.: A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games. Comput. Educ. 59(2), 661–686 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Creswell, J.W.: Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage, Thousand Oaks (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Curum, B., Khedo, K.K.: Cognitive load management in mobile learning systems: principles and theories. J. Comput. Educ. 8(1), 109–136 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Einfeldt, L., Degbelo, A.: User interface factors of mobile UX: a study with an incident reporting application. arXiv preprint arXiv:2102.02510 (2021)

  15. Elkhair, Z., Abdul Mutalib, A.: Mobile learning applications: characteristics, perspectives, and future trends. Int. J. Interact. Digit. Media (IJIDM) 5(1), 18–21 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Faisal, C.M.N., Fernandez-Lanvin, D., De Andrés, J., Gonzalez-Rodriguez, M.: Design quality in building behavioral intention through affective and cognitive involvement for e-learning on smartphones. Internet Research (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Feng, Y., Liao, Y., Ren, Y.: Effects of m-learning on students’ learning outcome: a meta-analysis. In: Deng, L., Ma, W.W.K., Fong, C.W.R. (eds.) New Media for Educational Change. ECTY, pp. 115–123. Springer, Singapore (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8896-4_10

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. Ferguson, R., et al.: Innovating pedagogy 2019: Open university innovation report 7 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Fotaris, P., Mastoras, T., Leinfellner, R., Rosunally, Y.: Climbing up the leaderboard: An empirical study of applying gamification techniques to a computer programming class. Electronic Journal of e-learning 14(2), 94–110 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Giannakoulopoulos, A., Limniati, L., Konstantinou, N.: Examining the contemporary status of gamification in education. In: INTED2020 Proceedings, pp. 6467–6473. IATED (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Gikas, J., Grant, M.M.: Mobile computing devices in higher education: Student perspectives on learning with cellphones, smartphones & social media. Internet High. Educ 19, 18–26 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Google: Blockly - google developers (2019). https://developers.google.com/blockly. Accessed 08 Jan 2020

  23. Gouws, L.A., Bradshaw, K., Wentworth, P.: Computational thinking in educational activities: an evaluation of the educational game light-bot. In: Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, pp. 10–15 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hambrock, H., De Villiers, F., Rusman, E., MacCallum, K., Arrifin, S.: Seamless learning in higher education: Perspectives of international educators on its curriculum and implementation potential: Global research project 2020. International Association for Mobile Learning (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Hammersley, M., Atkinson, P.: Ethnography: Principles in practice. Routledge, New York (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kanellopoulou, C., Giannakoulopoulos, A., et al.: Engage and conquer: an online empirical approach into whether intrinsic or extrinsic motivation leads to more enhanced students’ engagement. Creat. Educ. 11(02), 143 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Kasenides, N., Paspallis, N.: amazechallenge: An interactive multiplayer game for learning to code (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Kim, J., Choi, Y., Xia, M., Kim, J.: Mobile-friendly content design for MOOCS: challenges, requirements, and design opportunities. In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1–16 (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Krajcsi, A., Csapodi, C., Stettner, E.: Algotaurus: an educational computer programming game for beginners. Interact. Learn. Environ. 29(4), 634–647 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kroustalli, C., Xinogalos, S.: Studying the effects of teaching programming to lower secondary school students with a serious game: a case study with python and codecombat. Educ. Inf. Technol. 26(5), 6069–6095 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Lathwesen, C., Belova, N.: Escape rooms in stem teaching and learning-prospective field or declining trend? a literature review. Educ. Sci. 11(6), 308 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Li, X., Heng, Q.: Design of mobile learning resources based on new blended learning: a case study of superstar learning app. In: 2021 IEEE 3rd International Conference on Computer Science and Educational Informatization (CSEI), pp. 333–338. IEEE (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Liu, M.: Motivating students to learn using a game-based learning approach gaming and education issue. Texas Educ. Rev. 2(1), 117–128 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Manzano-León, A., et al.: Online escape room during COVID-19: a qualitative study of social education degree students’ experiences. Educ. Sci. 11(8), 426 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Marfisi-Schottman, I., George, S., Tarpin-Bernard, F.: Evaluating learning games during their conception. In: European Conference on Games Based Learning, vol. 1, p. 364. Academic Conferences International Limited (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Marinoni, G., van’t Land, H.: The impact of COVID-19 on global higher education. Int. Higher Educ. (102), 7–9 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Meftah, C., Retbi, A., Bennani, S., Idrissi, M.K.: Evaluation of user experience in the context of mobile serious game. In: 2019 International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Advanced Computing Sciences (ISACS), pp. 1–5. IEEE (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Miljanovic, M.A., Bradbury, J.S.: A review of serious games for programming. In: Göbel, S., Garcia-Agundez, A., Tregel, T., Ma, M., Baalsrud Hauge, J., Oliveira, M., Marsh, T., Caserman, P. (eds.) JCSG 2018. LNCS, vol. 11243, pp. 204–216. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02762-9_21

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  39. Moreno-León, J., Robles, G.: The Europe code week (CODEEU) initiative shaping the skills of future engineers. In: 2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), pp. 561–566. IEEE (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Nawrocki, P., Wrona, K., Marczak, M., Sniezynski, B.: A comparison of native and cross-platform frameworks for mobile applications. Computer 54(3), 18–27 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Ng’ambi, D., Brown, C., Bozalek, V., Gachago, D., Wood, D.: Technology enhanced teaching and learning in South African higher education-a rearview of a 20 year journey. Br. J. Edu. Technol. 47(5), 843–858 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Papadakis, S.: Advances in mobile learning educational research (AMLER): mobile learning as an educational reform. Adv. Mob. Learn. Educ. Res. 1(1), 1–4 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Paspallis, N., Kasenides, N., Piki, A.: A software architecture for developing distributed games that teach coding and algorithmic thinking. In: 2022 IEEE 46th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC), pp. 101–110. IEEE (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Pauli, M., Ferrell, G.: The future of assessment: five principles, five targets for 2025 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Piki, A.: Learner engagement in computer-supported collaborative learning activities: natural or nurtured? In: Zaphiris, P., Ioannou, A. (eds.) LCT 2014. LNCS, vol. 8523, pp. 107–118. Springer, Cham (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07482-5_11

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  46. Piki, A.: Learner engagement in mobile computer-supported collaborative learning contexts: an integrative framework. In: Proceedings of the 16th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning, pp. 1–7 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Piki, A.: An exploration of student experiences with social media and mobile technologies during emergency transition to remote education. In: World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning, pp. 10–17 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Piki, A.: Re-imagining the distributed nature of learner engagement in computer-supported collaborative learning contexts in the post-pandemic era. In: In: Meiselwitz, G. (eds.) HCII 2022. LNCS, pp. 161–179. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05064-0_13

  49. Piki, A., Markou, M., Vasiliou, A.: Learning through play: the role of learning and engagement theory in the development of educational games for intellectually challenged children. In: 2016 International Conference on Interactive Technologies and Games (ITAG), pp. 1–6. IEEE (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Piki, A., tefan, I.A., Stefan, A., Gheorghe, A.F.: Mitigating the challenges of mobile games-based learning through gamified lesson paths. In: World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning, pp. 73–80 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  51. Piñero Charlo, J.C.: Educational escape rooms as a tool for horizontal mathematization: learning process evidence. Educ. Sci. 10(9), 213 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Schell, J.: The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses. CRC Press (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Schindler, L.A., Burkholder, G.J., Morad, O.A., Marsh, C.: Computer-based technology and student engagement: a critical review of the literature. Int. J. Educ. Technol. High. Educ. 14(1), 1–28 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0063-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Shih, W.C.: Mining learners’ behavioral sequential patterns in a blockly visual programming educational game. In: 2017 International Conference on Industrial Engineering, Management Science and Application (ICIMSA), pp. 1–2. IEEE (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  55. Sophonhiranrak, S.: Features, barriers, and influencing factors of mobile learning in higher education: a systematic review. Heliyon 7(4), e06696 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Stefan, I.A., Gheorghe, A.F., Stefan, A., Piki, A., Tsalapata, H., Heidmann, O.: Constructing seamless learning through game-based learning experiences. Int. J. Mob. Blended Learn. (IJMBL) 14(4), 1–12 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Suartama, I.K., Setyosari, P., Ulfa, S., et al.: Development of an instructional design model for mobile blended learning in higher education. Int. J. Emerging Technol. Learn. 14(16) (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  58. Sung, Y.T., Yang, J.M., Lee, H.Y.: The effects of mobile-computer-supported collaborative learning: meta-analysis and critical synthesis. Rev. Educ. Res. 87(4), 768–805 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Swacha, J.: State of research on gamification in education: a bibliometric survey. Educ. Sci. 11(2), 69 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Tsekleves, E., Cosmas, J., Aggoun, A.: Benefits, barriers and guideline recommendations for the implementation of serious games in education for stakeholders and policymakers. Br. J. Edu. Technol. 47(1), 164–183 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Vitores, A., Gil-Juárez, A.: The trouble with ‘women in computing’: a critical examination of the deployment of research on the gender gap in computer science. J. Gend. Stud. 25(6), 666–680 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Wilson, C.: Hour of code–a record year for computer science. ACM Inroads 6(1), 22–22 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Wing, J.M.: Computational thinking. Commun. ACM 49(3), 33–35 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Lancashire – Cyprus, Larnaca, Cyprus

    Nicos Kasenides, Andriani Piki & Nearchos Paspallis

Authors
  1. Nicos Kasenides
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andriani Piki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nearchos Paspallis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andriani Piki .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Adela Coman

  2. University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Simona Vasilache

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Kasenides, N., Piki, A., Paspallis, N. (2023). Exploring the User Experience and Effectiveness of Mobile Game-Based Learning in Higher Education. In: Coman, A., Vasilache, S. (eds) Social Computing and Social Media. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14026. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35927-9_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35927-9_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-35926-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-35927-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation