Learning Preferences and Motivation of Different Ability Students for Social- Competition or Self-Competition

Competitive learning is attracting ever increasing amounts of attention in the field of digital game-based learning. Different mechanisms for the promotion of competitive learning have been proposed in previous studies, including social-competition and self-competition mechanisms, but few have addressed student preferences as to the choice between social-competition and self-competition, especially considering students’ different levels of capabilities and their perception. Thus, this study investigates how students with different levels of capabilities choose and perceive learning models between social-competition and self-competition. The study was carried out using the mixed-model experimental design. Sample consisted of 54 elementary school students assigned into three ability-level groups with all groups experiencing both treatments of social- and self-competition digital game-based learning environments. The results indicate that low-ability students had lower test anxiety and greater preference for social-competition, whereas medium-ability and high-ability students showed higher test anxiety and a similar preference for social-competition and self-competition. Based on this result, competitive learning design framework should consider enjoyment aspect of social competition for low-ability students, and interactive and performance aspects for self- and social-competition for medium- and high-ability students