Effects of a personalized game on students’ outcomes and visual attention during digital citizenship learning

Abstract

Previous studies have designed educational methods to cultivate digital citizenship behavior and support the construction of knowledge. However, these methods have not well incorporated personalized feedback mechanisms for enhancing digital citizenship knowledge. Therefore, this study proposed an algorithm that combines concept-effect propagation, fuzzy logic, and decision tree methods to address this drawback and create a personalized, contextual gaming experience. This personalization ensures an engaging and contextually relevant learning experience, addressing learning challenges related to digital citizenship scales. The game was tailored to individual learning experiences and decision-making patterns, with fuzzy logic interpreting nuanced student responses and decision trees guiding learning paths. A digital citizenship knowledge test and an affection questionnaire measured the game’s impact. Moreover, eye tracking was used to ensure attention in the experimental group. Therefore, a quasi-experimental design was conducted to evaluate the influence of a digital citizenship game on 110 students. ANCOVA and the Chi-square tests were performed to analyze students’ knowledge of digital citizenship. Moreover, eye-tracking metrics were used to gain deeper insights into students’ visual attention and engagement. The experimental results reveal that the proposed game enhanced the students’ digital citizenship achievement and promoted their perceptions. Additionally, eye-tracking data showed that the proposed gaming environment positively influenced students’ engagement. Findings indicate that using fuzzy logic and decision trees in educational games significantly promotes affection and alters attention in learning digital citizenship. This study contributes to educational technology by showcasing the potential benefits of personalized educational experiences. The insights gained are valuable for educators and educational game developers focused on digital citizenship education.

Keywords:

• Personalized learning
• digital game
• student engagement
• visual attention
• essential skill

Reviewing Editor:

• Michael William Dunn, Washington State University Vancouver, United States

Subjects:

• Classroom Practice
• Teaching & Learning
• Secondary Education
• Education – Social Sciences

Authors contributions

Patcharin Panjaburee performed conceptualization, funding acquisition, project administration, formal analysis and writing- original draft preparation. Gwo-Jen Hwang, Ungsinun Intarakamhang, Niwat Srisawasdi performed conceptualization and writing- review and editing. Pawat Chaipidech conducted data curation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Ethics statement

The research involving human participants followed the ethical standards of the committee for research ethics and with comparable ethical standards.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Network Strengthening Fund of the Program Management Unit for human resources and institutional development, research and innovation (PMU-B), Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council of Thailand [Grant number B16F640121-2].

Notes on contributors

Patcharin Panjaburee

Patcharin Panjaburee is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. She is interested in computer-assisted testing, adaptive learning, expert systems, digital material-supported learning, inquiry-based mobile learning, and web-based inquiry learning environment. She is the corresponding author of this paper.

Gwo-Jen Hwang

Gwo-Jen Hwang is a Chair professor at the Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and Graduate Institute of Educational Information and Measurement, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan. His research interests include mobile learning, digital game-based learning, flipped classrooms, and AI in education.

Ungsinun Intarakamhang

Ungsinun Intarakamhang is an Associate Professor at Behavioral Science Research Institute, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand. Her research interests include health literacy, psychological social, and performance management.

Niwat Srisawasdi

Niwat Srisawasdi is an Assistant Professor of Science Education at the Division of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. He is interested in technology-enhanced science education and technological pedagogical and content knowledge for the science teacher.

Pawat Chaipidech

Pawat Chaipidech is a faculty member of Science Education at the Division of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. He is interested in mobile learning, technological pedagogical and content knowledge, STEM education, and technology-enhanced learning.