Design Experiments in Game-Based Learning of Metacognition

This paper presents three sequential design experiments evaluating game-based learning environments (GBLEs) intended to train learner metacognition, with the aim of generating intermediary design knowledge that sits between individual games and general theory. Across the experiments, the researchers tested prototypes in real-world educational settings and assessed usefulness, motivation, usage, perceived effort, and metacognitive awareness. The first study, conducted with eight higher-education students over a single session, found that the metacognitive activities were generally seen as useful, particularly for time estimation and planning, but that the gaming component was sometimes too difficult, distracting, or unmotivating. The second study, with 40 students over four weeks, added a social leaderboard and domain-specific strategies; participants used the tool regularly, yet the gaming activities often consumed more time than studying, and a pre-post comparison on the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory showed no significant gain.

The third experiment, a nine-week in-vivo quasi-experiment with 1st-year undergraduates, replaced gameplay with open-ended goal, method, plan, and logbook features supported by badges, groups, and forums. Usage was very limited, with most participants logging only a few short sessions and substantial attrition, and the intervention group showed a significant pre-post increase in metacognitive awareness while no significant between-condition effect was found after controlling for pre-test scores. The study design, small and unevenly sized samples, and limited usage data constrain the strength of conclusions drawn.

From these experiments the authors derive design recommendations, including making metacognitive support directly relevant to ongoing domain learning, explicitly cueing and instructing use of support features, incorporating non-competitive social interaction, balancing gameplay time against learning time, and deliberately separating reflective activities from gameplay. They conclude that intrinsic integration of learning and play, which is recommended in domain-specific game-based learning, may be less effective for metacognition, which requires a distinct reflective stance.