From Barriers to Bridges: AI-Powered Mini-Games for Accessible Game-Based Learning

This study examines why college educators hesitate to adopt game-based learning (GBL) and how short, subject-independent AI-supported mini-games might lower those barriers. Drawing on interviews with 16 educators across disciplines and framed by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the work maps the obstacles that shape adoption decisions. The central thesis is that accessible, low-effort entry points, rather than full-scale games, offer a more practical route into classroom use.

Participants consistently identified cost, preparation effort, and lack of awareness of suitable options as the principal barriers. Within the UTAUT lens, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions dominated, including limited classroom time, large class sizes, and insufficient training and technical support. Educators were generally receptive to games and to the idea of mini-games, but many did not know which options existed or how to integrate them.

The authors conclude that curated mini-games paired with customized AI tools, such as Custom GPTs that generate instructional materials without requiring prompting expertise, may help close the adoption gap. Participants responded positively to these approaches. The findings are qualitative and drawn from a small sample, and they rely on perceived rather than observed usefulness, which limits their generalizability. The scope is higher education, with an emphasis on instructors across disciplines, and the study situates its insights within existing research on the effects of serious games and documented teacher-perceived barriers to classroom game use.