title: Multimodality and interactivity: connecting properties of serious games with educational outcomes.
abstract: Serious games have become an important genre of digital media and are often acclaimed for their potential to enhance deeper learning because of their unique technological properties. Yet the discourse has largely remained at a conceptual level. For an empirical evaluation of educational games, extra effort is needed to separate intertwined and confounding factors in order to manipulate and thus attribute the outcome to one property independent of another. This study represents one of the first attempts to empirically test the educational impact of two important properties of serious games, multimodality and interactivity, through a partial 2 x 3 (interactive, noninteractive by high, moderate, low in multimodality) factorial between-participants follow-up experiment. Results indicate that both multimodality and interactivity contribute to educational outcomes individually. Implications for educational strategies and future research directions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Media Research Amsterdam and Department of Social Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. u.ritterfeld@psy.vu.nl
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ritterfeld
authors.forename: Cuihua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nocera
authors.forename: Wee Ling
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003197:Computer Literacy; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult