Share Paper: How the Social Element in Game-based Learning Can Interfere With Learning Outcomes: An Examination of the Research Literature

  1. Yang Chen, Purdue University, China
  2. Michael Oxenrider, Independent, United States
  3. David Whittinghill, Purdue University, United States
Wednesday, October 23 4:00-4:30 PM Versailles 3

Abstract: This paper discusses the discovery of a pattern in the research literature suggesting the possibility of a detrimental effect on learning when social elements are used in educational video games. The chain of causality is as follows: social elements in a game increase cognitive load, cognitive load can heighten flow state, and heightened flow state can interfere with knowledge acquisition. The authors did not expect to discover this relationship and present it here for further consideration and analysis by the game-based learning community. This pattern, if further validated by empirical research, has the potential to disrupt many assumptions under which ...