This study employed a pretest-posttest control group experimental design to investigate the impact of self-explanation prompts on content learning in the game-based context. Additionally, it explored the effectiveness of different delivery timings for the prompts--either during or after gameplay--in enhancing students' cognitive engagement in…

This qualitative study explored high school students' engagement with a unit where video games and video game materials were incorporated into an English Language Arts classroom. Over several weeks, students engaged with video game content and composed their own video games using the free online platform, Scratch. The purpose of the study was to…

This qualitative study examines how playing levels of a fraction-themed videogame impacts students' thinking. The research question answered is: What do students' gestures reveal about the degree to which their thinking is embodied as they play a videogame that is constructed via a grounded metaphor for mathematical knowledge. Four soon-to-be…

Disengagement from school represents the beginning stages of the general process which can end with dropout (Archambault et al., 2022; Henry et al., 2012). Disengagement, amplified by the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to impact the education of students in the United States, which if not addressed, can begin a cycle which may…

The purpose of this study was to examine the Problem of Practice (POP) to determine if and how creating an Esports extracurricular program could potentially benefit and impact academic performance and attendance among high school students. The Dissertation in Practice (DIP) investigated how providing a daytime program could engage and motivate…

The use of digital game-based learning has increased in recent years. Educators have a plethora of digital tools to complement their pedagogical practices and to support student learning. This qualitative study examined how 10 high school math teachers perceived the use of Kahoot! as an instructional intervention, and how teachers perceived the…

Digital educational games have been a part of the educational landscape since the early 1970s. Since then, there has been a proliferation in the quantity, format, type, and quality of digital educational games available to classroom teachers. Despite this, the body of literature surrounding the effectiveness of these digital educational games…

Esports has been adopted by high schools across the country and around the world as a school-based opportunity for students to engage in competitive video gaming. Growth of esports in secondary schools has been informed independently by student and industry interests, leaving school administrators little understanding surrounding the motives and…

The problem of practice (PoP) in this dissertation in practice (DiP) focuses on the lack of motivation and engagement exhibited by career technical education (CTE) students within the traditional high school chemistry classroom as a response to textbook and teacher-centered pedagogy. This qualitative action research study utilizes a game-based…

Background: Although there is some reported success in using gamification to improving engagement, others have critiqued that these video game like strategies are a mere "repackaging" of established classroom strategies. Many experiments with gamification, however, have only focused on those features that emphasize extrinsic rewards…

Objective: The rapid advancement in screen-based technology enables teenagers today to devote significant amounts of time to occupational engagement in the virtual context. Societal concerns regarding adolescent screen time have been well-substantiated by numerous studies that have revealed an inverse relationship between adolescent screen time…

The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to explore differences in students' STEM identities, game play motivations, and game preferences. The need to grow and support STEM education and careers in the U. S. is a widely-held concern for those in leadership, industry, and education. A purposeful sample of 167 9th grade-12th grade…

The problem that this study addressed is that current research has overlooked the potential transferability of needed 21st century skills from video game playing in middle and high school to success in college many years later among under-prepared college students. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the lived…

A traditional mode of Earth Science instruction in public day high schools for students with severe emotional behavioral disorders (EBD) is teacher-delivered lectures supported with paper-based laboratory exercises. These laboratory experiences are often presented through worksheet problems that students are asked to solve and return to the…

This study examined the impact of digital game-based learning (DGBL) on mathematics achievement in a rural high school setting in North Carolina. A causal comparative research design was used in this study to collect data to determine the effectiveness of DGBL in high school Algebra 1 classes. Data were collected from the North Carolina…