Comparing effectiveness of educational video games of different genres in computer science education

Educational video games have been proven effective for many purposes. However, little research has been conducted in order to analyze the effect of the game genre on the pedagogical effectiveness of the game-based learning experiences conducted using them. This article aims to fill this gap by analyzing and comparing, for the first time, the instructional and motivational effectiveness of two educational video games of different genres: third-person shooter and endless runner. The research questions addressed in this article are as follows: Is Game-Based Learning using teacher-authored video games effective in terms of knowledge acquisition and motivation to learn about database administration in computer science education? Does the effectiveness of Game-Based Learning in computer science education depends on playing a third-person shooter or an endless runner game? An experimental design (randomized controlled trial with pre-post test design) supported by instruments to gather the knowledge acquisition and opinion of the students allowed for a rigorous analysis of the conducted experience. A total of 45 computer science students organized in two groups learned about database administration by playing two educational video games created through a teacher-oriented authoring tool. One group played a third-person shooter game, whereas the other group played an endless runner game. Both games integrated the same learning content and were played by the students the same amount of time. The results show that the analyzed video games are highly and equally effective in terms of knowledge acquisition (learning gains were statistically significant with a medium effect size in both groups) and motivation (average student ratings above 4.5 out of 5 in both groups). Although the students expressed a preference for third-person shooter games, they also expressed that they would have learned the same with other types of games. In conclusion, the evidence reported in this article suggests that educational effectiveness of game-based learning does not depend on video game genre.