Analysis of the effects of a game-based review system integrated with the hierarchy of learning on learning outcomes in an elementary social science course

ABSTRACT

Social science education aims to enable people to acquire the knowledge and abilities necessary to lead a normal social life. However, social science is often neglected in basic education compared with languages and mathematics, thus affecting students’ learning motivation and achievements. In this study, a digital game-based review system was designed for fourth-grade students in Taiwan taking a social science course. The students could review the unit content through the completion of game tasks. The concepts of the forgetting curve, hierarchy of learning, and formative assessment were incorporated into the game design to solidify memory and optimize learning effectiveness. The effects of the game on learning effectiveness, motivation, attitude, and interest were investigated, and learning behavior patterns were assessed through lag sequential analysis. The findings may serve as a reference for improving elementary school social science education.

KEYWORDS:

• Game-based review
• hierarchy of learning
• forgetting curve
• learning behavior
• social science education

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan, ROC [Grant Numbers 107-2511-H-224-004-MY3, 108-2628-H-224-001-MY3].

Notes on contributors

Ting-Ting Wu

Ting-Ting Wu currently works for the Graduate School of Technological and Vocational Education at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. She received a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Engineering Science at National Cheng Kung University. Her research interests include mobile and ubiquitous learning, information technology-applied instructions, and intelligent learning systems.

Tien-Wen Sung

Tien-Wen Sung received the M.S. degree in computer science and engineering from National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1997 and the Ph.D. degree in computer and communication engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, in 2014. He is currently a Full Professor with the College of Computer Science and Mathematics, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou, China. His research interests include artificial intelligence, e-learning, and mobile computing.