Scaffolding Game-Based Learning 1 Scaffolding Game-Based Learning: Impact on Learning Achievements, Perceived Learning, and Game Experiences

One of the central challenges of integrating game-based learning in school settings is helping learners make the connections between the knowledge learned in the game and the knowledge learned at school, while maintaining a high level of engagement with game narrative and gameplay. The current study evaluated the effect of supplementing a business simulation game with an external conceptual scaffold, which introduces formal knowledge representations, on learners ’ ability to solve financial-mathematical word problems following the game, and on learners ’ perceptions regarding learning, flow, and enjoyment in the game. Participants (Mage = 10.10 years) were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: a “study and play ” condition that presented the scaffold first and then the game, a “play and study ” condition, and a “play only ” condition. Although no significant gains in problem-solving were found following the intervention, learners who studied with the external scaffold before the game performed significantly better in the post-game problem-solving assessment. Adding th