Serious Games in the Classroom: Student Learning Outcomes

Abstract: The objective of the study presented in this paper, is to determine the potential effects that serious games can have on the learning of primary school students.  This study concentrated on learning mathematics especially mental calculation, a subject that is often regarded as complicated by students of all ages in schools. An experiment was carried out to investigate how the serious games affect arithmetic learning. Two groups were assigned, a control and experimental group. Controlled students have learned mental calculation by traditional teaching method and the experimental group used our Serious Games.  A t-test using  SPSS   statistical  software  was  carried  out  to  test  the  existence  of  significant  change  in  students’  performance  based  on  the  marks  they  scored  on  a  test  for  a  mental calculation before  and  after  the  introduction of serious games in students learning process.. Based on the analysis carried out, results show that the students in the experimental group performed better when using serious games than the control group with traditional teaching method. And those serious games positively influence the motivation of learners.

Keywords: Serious Games, Mental calculation, Primary school, Mathematics, Motivation.