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ERIC Number: EJ1384664
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2155-6849
EISSN: EISSN-2155-6857
The Impact of Gender in Learning with Games: A Consistent Effect in a Math Learning Game
Nguyen, Huy Anh; Hou, Xinying; Richey, J. Elizabeth; McLaren, Bruce M.
International Journal of Game-Based Learning, v12 n1 2022
There is an established gender gap in middle school math education, where female students report higher anxiety and lower engagement, which negatively impact their performance and even long-term career choices. This work investigates the role of digital learning games in addressing this issue by studying Decimal Point, a math game that teaches decimal numbers and operations to 5th and 6th graders. Through data from four published studies of Decimal Point, involving 624 students in total, the authors identified a consistent gender difference that was replicated across all studies -- male students tended to do better at pretest, while female students tended to learn more from the game. In addition, female students were more careful in answering self-explanation questions, which significantly mediated the relationship between gender and learning gains in two out of four studies. These findings show that learning games can be an effective tool for bridging the gender gap in middle school math education, which in turn contributes to the development of more personalized and inclusive learning platforms.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Elementary Education; Grade 5; Intermediate Grades; Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: DRL1661121