Does Gaming Equal Achieving

 Do Educational Games Increase Achievement

                                                                                                                       

While educational gaming may see to be fun and engaging for the students, does it truly help students reach the intended the goal of success or achievement? This is the question that not only educators but parents or educational stakeholders have.  Thankfully Young et al. (2012) confirms educational games can increase achievement. In particular educational gaming increased learning outcome achievement from  7% to 40% as measured by standardized testing. In their research, Young et al. determined that the Math game NIU Torcs not only increased achievement but with the success students were experiencing, the game encouraged the students to spend more time doing homework. Therefore, through interactive engagement and instruction, games not only increase time spend learning but also time spent completing homework and increase achievement 

                                      Keys to Achievement      

As identified by Young et al. ( 2012), there were many identifying features that encouraged this increase in achievement. These factors include: appropriate training of the game for the teacher and students; access to the game and network; sufficient time to accurately and effectively complete the activities; appropriate design that links contemporary learning theories, customizes task difficultly to learners' capabilities, and interactions among learner ; game objective and learning objectives aligned.

Potential Barrier

Young et al. (2012) has identified several barriers to the increase of achievement when it comes to electronic educational games. A major barrier that unfortunately is typical due to time constraints is including the game as a 20 minute activity for students. Limiting the game as just an activity does not allow the student to maximize all of the activities, collaborations, and competitions accessed within the game. 

Once again, if you a kinesthetic learner and learn by viewing videos, below is a video that reviews educational gaming impact on motivation and achievement 

 

                                               Reference 

Young, M. F., Slota, S., Cutter, A. B., Jalette, G., Mullin, G., Lai, B., Simeoni, Z., Tran, M., &     

     Yukhymenko, M. (2012). Our Princess Is in Another Castle. Review of Educational Research, 82(1), 

     61–89. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654312436980