Stimulating the development of a disposition through games-based learning.

While initial evidence for claims with respoect to the effectiveness of game-based learning (GBL) is emerging, that evidence is currently too general and largely neglects individual differences. This project aims at contributing to the elaboration of a theoretical model on GBL by identifying the effects of three characteristics of game-based environments: the integration of game and domain content, the nature of additional instructional support, and learner control. Participants are vocational track students and the content domain is mathematics, more specifically number sense. This project entails four studies which all have a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design. They all use the same instruments and the same type of game. The first study investigates the impact of two versions of the game: a version in which the content of the fame is about mathematics and one in which the mathematics content and the game content are different. The second and third study investigate the impact of adding instructional support (task-part practice, resp. conceptual clarifications) at different levels of learner control. The fourth study compares the impact of the most optimal game with a regular mathematics teaching approach for vocational track students.

Keywords:Vocational education, Learneer control, Instructional support, Mathematics, Game-based learning

Disciplines:Education curriculum, Education systems, General pedagogical and educational sciences, Specialist studies in education, Other pedagogical and educational sciences, Instructional sciences