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Background: Leaderboards are a highly popular gamification component used in student learning to enhance motivation, attentional engagement, and learning performance. However, few studies have examined the effects of individual leaderboard elements on English vocabulary learning through video lectures. Objectives: The present study aimed to examine how different leaderboard elements (i.e., points and rank) may affect students' English vocabulary learning through video lectures. Methods: A total of 34 students were assigned to groups using different leaderboard elements in a counterbalanced order. Participants' motivation, eye movements, and learning performance were measured and analysed. Results and Conclusions: Students' leaderboard rank was shown to increase their motivation regardless of whether other elements were present. Eye movement tracking revealed that the presence of the leaderboard increased students' saccades between the questions and the options, and lengthened their dwell time on the learning materials while reducing their dwell time on the non‐learning‐related screen areas. Presenting students' rank alone also improved their learning performance. Implications: Our findings strongly support the use of video lectures for English vocabulary learning, with the following recommendations: (1) Instructors should present students' rank on the leaderboard to enhance students' motivation and engagement; (2) Instructors should present only the students' rank on the leaderboard to also enhance students' learning performance. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: While learning English vocabulary from video lectures, students might experience low levels of motivation and engagement, and pay less attention to the lectures.Leaderboards are a highly popular gamification component used in student learning to enhance motivation, attentional engagement, and learning performance.It remains unclear which leaderboard elements (i.e., points or rank) contribute most significantly to the effectiveness of the leaderboards. What this paper adds: Leaderboard elements have different effects on English vocabulary learning.The rank on the leaderboard benefited students' motivation and engagement.The rank also enhances students' confidence and learning performance. Implications for practice and/or policy: Instructors should present students' rank on the leaderboard to enhance students' motivation and engagement.Instructors should present only the students' rank on the leaderboard to also enhance students' learning performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health sciences education prepares students for social‐ and healthcare by developing evidence‐based nursing, leadership and working life skills, including collaboration. Due to the changes caused by the global pandemic, health sciences education has shifted more to online and hybrid contexts, which can challenge students' competence development. Students' competence development and interaction in collaborative hybrid learning is a little researched area. Objectives: To observe and evaluate health sciences students' competence development in a collaborative hybrid learning context. Methods: This quasi‐experimental mixed‐method study was implemented by providing educational intervention. First‐year Bachelor's degree health sciences students (n = 18) of a Finnish university completed an educational intervention with synchronous online and face‐to‐face learning. Students' collaborative hybrid learning and interaction were video observed, while self‐evaluation of competence development was made with a questionnaire. Results: In the collaborative interactions, the students showed analytical thinking, problem‐ solving and communication and technology skills. Extensive knowledge of health sciences and ethics skills was not strongly visible in interaction. The students effectively used collaborative work time to perform tasks. Cognitive interaction (monitoring and evaluating learning) was observed in 85% and socio‐emotional interaction (expressions of emotions and motivation) in 53% of the data. Related to the students' learning results, the students' ability to communicate and interact with culturally different people improved after the educational intervention. Conclusion: Collaborative learning methods in hybrid learning can create opportunities for students to construct their competence in interaction. Attention should be paid to different areas of competence and the role of socio‐emotional interaction. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Health sciences education prepares students for social and healthcare by developing working life skills, including collaboration.Hybrid learning brings benefits but challenges the equity of students with different attention modes.Collaborative learning is widely used but has not been studied much in hybrid context.Students' competence development and interaction in collaborative hybrid learning is a little researched area. What this paper adds: The purpose was to observe and evaluate health sciences students' competence development in a collaborative hybrid learning context.Hybrid collaborative interaction encourages students to construct knowledge in health sciences.The students utilised the collaborative time appropriately.Socioemotional interactions were very visible in collaborative learning. Implications for practice: This study helps educational organisations to design hybrid model education.The design requires pedagogical and technical competence and should include collaborative methods.Attention should be paid to different areas of competence in collaborative learning.The role of socio‐emotional interaction needs more focus in hybrid learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Learning which letters correspond to which speech sounds is fundamental for learning to read. Based on previous experimental studies, we developed a serious game aiming to boost letter‐speech sound (L‐SS) correspondences in a motivational game environment. Objectives: The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of this game in training L‐SS correspondences in pre‐readers. Additionally, an extended version of the game was developed given the importance of handwriting in audio‐visual integration. We established whether including a motoric component in the game boosted the letter‐speech sound training on top of the effect of the game without the motoric component. Methods: One‐hundred forty‐five kindergartners were randomly allocated to play either the standard audio‐visual version of the game, the motoric version or a control math game. All children were pre‐ and post‐tested on L‐SS knowledge and reading accuracy. Results and conclusions: We found that playing the game enhanced pre‐readers' L‐SS knowledge, but not reading accuracy, after a short, intensive intervention period of 3 weeks. However, children who played the motoric version of the game did not differ significantly from either the standard or the control condition. Implications: This game was efficient in training L‐SS correspondences in pre‐readers. These results suggest that this game might be useful as a preventive evidence‐based intervention for at‐risk children in kindergarten who might benefit from a head start before learning how to read. Future studies are needed to examine whether a longer intervention period results in L‐SS knowledge being translated into reading skills. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Automatised and fluent reading requires much exposure and practice, but intensive teacher support for all at‐risk readers is economically and practically unfeasibleHandwriting movement likely to enhance coupling of auditory and visual informationOne way to provide high exposure is with game‐based interventionsLack of studies examining the efficacy of these interventions What this paper adds: Serious game enhances letter‐speech sound knowledge in pre‐readers after 3 weeks of intensive interventionThis effect did not transfer to reading performanceNo additional effect of the handwriting movement, possibly due to the short intervention periodIn‐game measures slightly mediated intervention progress Implications for practice and/or policy: Growing evidence of game‐based interventions as promising tools to support reading developmentGame can possibly serve as evidence‐based intervention for at‐risk children in kindergarten who might benefit from a head start before learning how to read [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Performance goal orientations are influential motivational factors for predicting learning performance. However, a lack of attention has been paid to investigating the effects of performance goal orientations on learning performance and in‐game performance in the context of digital game‐based learning. Objectives: This study implemented a game‐based English vocabulary learning system and investigated how performance goal orientations affected learners' learning performance and in‐game performance. Methods: A total of 59 non‐English major university students participated in this study, divided into performance‐approach learners (PAPL) and performance‐avoidance learners (PAVL) based on their performance goal orientations. The English vocabulary listening test and log data were collected for conducting quantitative analyses. Results and conclusions: The results showed that the PAPL outperformed the PAVL in learning performance, whereas the two groups demonstrated similar gain scores and overall in‐game performance. Moreover, the results showed that the PAVL's learning performance was strongly associated with all aspects of in‐game performance in the learning activities. Conversely, the PAPL's learning performance was only associated with two aspects of in‐game performance in the competition activities. Implications: The findings of this study suggest that performance goal orientations play significant roles in both learning performance and in‐game performance, which could benefit the PAVL's in‐game performance, which is a substantial factor in promoting their learning performance via DGBL. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Digital game‐based learning (DGBL) has been widely adopted in various subject areas.DGBL is an effective learning approach for language learning.Performance goal orientations are influential motivational factors in predicting learning performance.Relevant empirical research on performance goal orientations in DGBL is scarce and inconclusive. What this paper adds: A game‐based English vocabulary learning system was developed based on the considerations of different characteristics of performance goal orientations.This study provides understandings of the impact of performance goal orientations on both learning performance and in‐game performance in DGBL.Performance‐approach learners outperformed performance‐avoidance learners, whereas the two groups demonstrated similar gain scores and overall in‐game performance.Performance‐avoidance learners' in‐game performance is a substantial factor in promoting their learning performance via DGBL. Implications for practice and/or policy: Educators should consider adopting game‐based assessment to reduce the gap between learners with different performance goal orientations.DGBL can be a potential approach to supporting different performance goal orientations, but it is particularly beneficial to learners with performance‐avoidance goals.Learners with different performance goal orientations need different types of learning activities to achieve better performance.A personalized DGBL system should be developed to accommodate the needs and preferences of learners with performance‐approach and performance‐avoidance goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual reality (VR) can promote design performance, and may generate a high cognitive load and affect creative design thinking as well. In order to examine the effect of VR application on cognitive load and engineering design creativity, this study recruited 81 eighth‐grade students as participants and employed a non‐equivalent‐groups quasi‐experimental design to examine how VR application influences creativity components and creative performance. A creativity component scale (creative motivation, creative thinking, and professional cognition), a measurement of creative performance, and a cognitive load scale were used to collect data. The study also investigated the ability of VR application to predict creativity components and creative performance, using cognitive load as the mediator. The conclusions are as follows: (1) VR application had marked effects on professional cognition and creative motivation but no effect on creative thinking skills. (2) VR application had marked effects on the novelty and usefulness aspects of creative performance, particularly with respect to usefulness. (3) VR application had marked effects on extraneous and germane cognitive load, but no influence on intrinsic cognitive load, and (4) Both VR application and cognitive load were able to predict creativity components and creative performance. Their abilities to predict creative performance approached an acceptable level. Nevertheless, VR application had no effect on general creative thinking skills; therefore, other teaching strategies are needed to strengthen creative thinking. Lay Description: What is already known about this topicVirtual reality (VR) can transmit complex knowledge.Virtual reality (VR) can promote design performance.What this paper addsInfluence of VR application on creativity components and creative performance.Ability of VR application and cognitive load to predict creativity components.Ability of VR application and cognitive load to predict creative performance.Implications for practice and/or policyUsing VR teaching to improve learning effects and creativity in high‐risk, expensive, and inaccessible learning fields.Using VR teaching to practice repeatedly, and facilitate basic understanding of the application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the educational disruption caused by the Covid‐19 pandemic underscores the importance of blended learning in higher education, research on the effectiveness of blended learning is still inconclusive. Drawing from the motivational design model of the ARCS (i.e., attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction), this study attempts to fill the gap to evaluate effectiveness of blended learning from a multi‐dimensional perspective. Participants were randomly assigned into three experimental groups (i.e., face‐to‐face, pure online, and blended). A questionnaire survey was administered in each group after the trial courses. The data was analysed by using the one‐way ANOVA with post hoc tests. The results showed that blended learning outperformed pure online learning in enhancing students' attention, confidence, and satisfaction perceptions. Additionally, blended learning had a higher level of satisfaction perception than face‐to‐face learning. Follow‐up interviews were also conducted to provide an in‐depth understanding of how blended learning motivated students during the learning process. Considering that blended learning may become a new normal in higher education after the Covid‐19 pandemic, the findings of the present study provide evidences to support the effectiveness of the blended learning approach in addressing students' motivational needs. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Blended learning, also called as hybrid learning, is a learning approach that combines face‐to‐face learning with online learning;It is able to integrate benefits afforded by both traditional face‐to‐face learning and pure online learning to deliver course content;However, the findings concerned with the effectiveness of blended learning are mixed;The measurements of learning effectiveness in previous studies are often based on single variables (e.g., test score or students' satisfaction), but neglect the multi‐dimensional nature of learning effectiveness. What this paper adds?: Based on motivational design model of the ARCS (i.e., attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction), the present study compared the effectiveness of blended learning with other learning approaches (e.g., pure online learning and face‐to‐face learning) through a randomized experiment;It was identified that blended learning outperformed pure online learning in enhancing students' perceptions of attention, confidence, and satisfaction;Blended learning also had a higher level of satisfaction perception compared to face‐to‐face learning;Last but not least, evaluating learning effectiveness from an integrated lens of objective assessment based on test scores and subjective assessment based on the multi‐motivational perspectives is an important first step to understanding the effectiveness of blended learning to support learning in higher education in the future. Implications for practice and/or policy: As blended learning outperforms pure online in several motivational appeals, it is recommended that universities should consider conducting blended learning as far as possible rather than pure online learning;Learning strategies can be applied to trigger students' curiosity and keep them engaged continuously in the learning process, such as utilizing a variety of online quality resources, and interacting with students from other universities through online communities;As the confidence of taking blended learning courses varies among different levels of students, instructors should try to provide sufficient support during the learning process especially for the online sections;Since satisfaction is identified as a critical motivator, instructors should pay more attention on how to improve students' satisfaction through the design of blended learning, such as try controlling the length of course videos and interacting with students synchronously in the online course platforms;Last but not least, since some of the tasks in blended learning need to be initiated and completed by students themselves, it is necessary for educational institutions to consider incorporating the training for self‐regulation as part of their competence based training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A promising method to support game‐based learning is to facilitate learners' externalization of cognitive and metacognitive processes. Externalizing Problem Representation (EPR) refers to a cognitive behaviour in which a learner constructs her own representations overtly. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether learning supports promoting EPR enhance qualitative understanding and quantitative proficiency in ratios and proportional relationships in a learning game (i.e., E‐Rebuild) context. Specifically, this study investigated the effects of representation format in problem representation on qualitative understanding and quantitative proficiency in a learning game context. The results of this study indicate that (a) symbolic learning supports better facilitate comprehension of math concepts and their relations than iconic learning supports in video game contexts, (b) symbolic learning supports better facilitate players' reflection for implicit understanding and promote their math problem‐solving skills, (c) participants in the symbolic learning support group increased significantly in qualitative understanding but not in quantitative proficiency after gameplay, and (d) participants in the iconic learning support group experienced significant growth in quantitative proficiency but not in qualitative understanding after gameplay. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Video games potentially facilitate implicit qualitative understanding more than quantitative knowledge test performance.Educational game designers lack a good understanding of the design and development of effective learning supports in educational games. What this paper adds: Symbolic learning supports for problem representation better facilitate comprehension of math concepts and their relations than iconic learning supports in video game contexts.Participants experienced significant growth in quantitative proficiency after they processed the iconic in‐game learning supports in game‐based math tasks.Participants' qualitative understanding in the symbolic learning support group increased significantly after playing E‐Rebuild‐based math game task. Implications for practice and/or policy: This study informs scholars and designers of game‐based learning about designing learning support and its properties in video game contexts: Learning support design to promote math problem representation across problem translation and problem integration.This study provides design principles for learning supports in math learning game; symbolic learning supports facilitate qualitative understanding whereas iconic learning supports facilitate quantitative proficiency in math learning game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]