Pushing the Limits of Game-Based Instruction in Calculus: Assessing the Effects of Variant Limits

• In Event: Promoting Teaching and Learning in Game-Based and Virtual Reality Learning Spaces

Abstract

We conducted a pretest-posttest design experiment across multiple sections of a calculus course in a large public university in the United States to address this challenge. Our goal was to test the effects of the game Variant: Limits (Author et al., 2017) on the requisite calculus content learning outcomes of STEM majors. After propensity score matching, 111 reasonably well-matched pairs of game completers and control participants (n=222) were identified as the present study's analytic sample. We calculated the post treatment mean difference effect size (d=0.73, 95% CI=[0.46, 1.01]). The mean difference effect size indicates that the Variant impact: Limits game had a large and statistically significant effect on test scores. Implications for increased game-based instruction are provided.

Authors

• Andre Thomas, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Michael S Rugh, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Hadeel Ramadan, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Jamaal Young, Texas A&M University