Espinosa-Curiel Ismael Edrein, Pozas-Bogarin Edgar Efrén, Martínez-Miranda Juan, Pérez-Espinosa Humberto
Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Unidad de Transferencia Tecnológica Tepic, Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico.
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Unidad de Transferencia Tecnológica Tepic, Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico.
JMIR Serious Games. 2020 Sep 17;8(3):e21813. doi: 10.2196/21813.
The design and use of serious video games for children have increased in recent years. To maximize the effects of these games, it is essential to understand the children's experiences through playing. Previous studies identified that enjoyment and user experience satisfaction of the players are principal factors that can influence the success of serious video games and the learning of their players. However, research about the relationship between enjoyment and user experience satisfaction with learning in children 8 to 10 years old is sparse.
We examined the relationship of enjoyment and user experience satisfaction with the learning of children aged 8 to 10 years while playing a serious video game for health, FoodRateMaster. This serious video game teaches children about the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy foods and how to identify them in their environment.
Children aged 8 to 10 years were recruited from a primary school in Mexico. Participants completed 12 individual gaming sessions with FoodRateMaster in 6 weeks. A food knowledge questionnaire was administered before and after game play to assess the players' food knowledge. In addition, after the gaming sessions, the children's enjoyment and user experience satisfaction were evaluated using the EGameFlow questionnaire and the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS) questionnaire.
We found significant positive associations for children's (n=60) posttest knowledge with enjoyment (r=0.36, P=.005) and user experience satisfaction (r=0.27, P=.04). The children's posttest knowledge scores were also positively correlated with challenge (r=0.38, P=.003), knowledge improvement (r=0.38, P=.003), and goal clarity (r=0.29, P=.02) EGameFlow subscales and with narrative (r=0.35, P=.006), creative freedom (r=0.26, P=.04), and visual esthetics (r=0.32, P=.01) GUESS subscales. Regression analysis indicated that the EGameFlow (F=2.74, P=.02, R=0.27) and the GUESS (F=2.20, P=.04, R=0.26) ratings significantly predicted the children's posttest knowledge scores. EGameFlow challenge (β=0.40, t=2.17, P=.04) and knowledge improvement (β=0.29, t=2.06, P=.04) subscales significantly contributed to predicting children's learning. None of the GUESS subscales significantly contributed to predicting children's learning.
The findings of this study suggest that both enjoyment and user experience satisfaction for children aged 8 to 10 years were positively correlated with their learning and that were significant predictors of it. Challenge, knowledge improvement, narrative, creative freedom, and visual esthetics subscales correlated positively with children's learning. In addition, challenge and knowledge improvement contributed to predicting their learning. These results are relevant to consider during the design stages of serious games developed for young children's learning purposes.
近年来，面向儿童的严肃电子游戏的设计与应用日益增多。为了使这些游戏的效果最大化，通过游戏来了解儿童的体验至关重要。先前的研究表明，玩家的愉悦感和用户体验满意度是影响严肃电子游戏成功及玩家学习效果的主要因素。然而，关于8至10岁儿童在游戏中的愉悦感与用户体验满意度和学习之间关系的研究却很少。
我们研究了8至10岁儿童在玩一款名为“FoodRateMaster”的健康主题严肃电子游戏时，愉悦感和用户体验满意度与学习之间的关系。这款严肃电子游戏向儿童传授健康和不健康食品的特征以及如何在周围环境中识别它们。
从墨西哥的一所小学招募了8至10岁的儿童。参与者在6周内与“FoodRateMaster”完成了12次单人游戏环节。在游戏前后分别进行了一份食物知识问卷，以评估玩家的食物知识。此外，在游戏环节结束后，使用电子游戏流畅性问卷（EGameFlow）和游戏用户体验满意度量表（GUESS）问卷对儿童的愉悦感和用户体验满意度进行了评估。
我们发现，儿童（n = 60）的测试后知识得分与愉悦感（r = 0.36，P = 0.005）和用户体验满意度（r = 0.27，P = 0.04）之间存在显著的正相关。儿童的测试后知识得分还与挑战（r = 0.38，P = 0.003）、知识提升（r = 0.38，P = 0.003）和目标清晰度（r = 0.29，P = 0.02）等电子游戏流畅性子量表以及叙事（r = 0.35，P = 0.006）、创作自由（r = 0.26，P = 0.04）和视觉美学（r = 0.32，P = 0.01）等GUESS子量表呈正相关。回归分析表明电子游戏流畅性评分（F = 2.74，P = 0.02，R = 0.27）和GUESS评分（F = 2.20，P = 0.04，R = 0.26）能显著预测儿童的测试后知识得分。电子游戏流畅性挑战子量表（β = 0.40，t = 2.17，P = 0.04）和知识提升子量表（β = 0.29，t = 2.06，P = 0.04）对预测儿童的学习有显著贡献。GUESS子量表中没有一个对预测儿童的学习有显著贡献。
本研究结果表明，8至10岁儿童的愉悦感和用户体验满意度均与他们的学习呈正相关，且是学习的重要预测因素。挑战、知识提升、叙事、创作自由和视觉美学等子量表与儿童的学习呈正相关。此外，挑战和知识提升有助于预测他们的学习。在为幼儿学习目的开发严肃游戏的设计阶段，这些结果具有参考价值。
