Elsevier

Computers & Education

Volume 59, Issue 2, September 2012, Pages 661-686
Computers & Education

A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.03.004Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper examines the literature on computer games and serious games in regard to the potential positive impacts of gaming on users aged 14 years or above, especially with respect to learning, skill enhancement and engagement. Search terms identified 129 papers reporting empirical evidence about the impacts and outcomes of computer games and serious games with respect to learning and engagement and a multidimensional approach to categorizing games was developed. The findings revealed that playing computer games is linked to a range of perceptual, cognitive, behavioural, affective and motivational impacts and outcomes. The most frequently occurring outcomes and impacts were knowledge acquisition/content understanding and affective and motivational outcomes. The range of indicators and measures used in the included papers are discussed, together with methodological limitations and recommendations for further work in this area.

Highlights

► Largest review of computer games & serious games literature that we are aware of. ► 7392 papers were identified on positive impacts of games on users over 14 years. ► 129 papers reported empirical evidence about impacts on learning and engagement. ► A multidimensional approach has been developed to categorize games. ► This research provides a significant basis for future work in this area.

Introduction

Over the last 40 years computer games have increasingly replaced more traditional games as leisure activities and have had a transformational impact on how we spend our leisure time. Entertainment games provide engaging activities and it would appear that far from waning, interest in games for leisure is still growing. The availability of new consoles, platforms and technologies for the delivery of games is an important factor in this continued growth.

Much of the early research on computer games focused on the negative impacts of playing digital games, particularly on the impact of playing violent entertainment games on aggression. Anderson and Bushman's influential meta-analyses suggested that playing violent video games leads to increases in aggressive thoughts, aggressive affect and physiological arousal, reduced arousal to subsequent depictions of violence and decreases in pro-social behaviour (Anderson, 2004; Anderson & Bushman, 2001). Other negative effects of playing digital entertainment games have also been reported, such as difficulties in regulating the amount of time spent playing games (Ogletree & Drake, 2007), addiction (Griffiths & Davies, 2002), social isolation and nauseogenic properties of games with head mounted displays (Merhi, Faugloire, Flanagan & Stoffregen, 2007).

Despite this early focus on the negative impacts of computer games, there has also been interest in positive effects of playing games. In his meta-analysis of both positive and negative effects of playing violent games, Ferguson (2007) found that playing violent games was associated with better visual spatial abilities, but found no effect of playing violent games on aggressive behaviour.

The motivating features of digital games and the suggestions that game players might actually be developing useful skills (Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 1994) led to optimism that games might provide a useful and attractive new method of learning (de Freitas, 2006). Initially interest focused on how COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) games, which are primarily designed for entertainment, might be used in learning, but interest also grew in games-based learning (GBL), designing games for educational purposes. Modern theories of effective learning suggest that learning is most effective when it is active, experiential, situated, problem-based and provides immediate feedback (Boyle, Connolly & Hainey, 2011). Games appeared to offer activities which have these features. There has also been interest in Serious Games (Sawyer & Smith, 2008) and persuasive games (Bogost, 2007) which have been used to change behaviours and attitudes more broadly in the areas of health, public policy and advertising as well as education and training. However, while there has been much speculation about the use of games in these ways, there has been less in the way of hard evidence to support these claims (Connolly, Stansfield & Hainey, 2008). The aim of the current paper is to carry out a systematic literature review of empirical evidence about the positive impacts and outcomes of computer games and serious games with respect to learning and engagement.

Section snippets

Previous research

It is clear that playing digital games leads to a variety of positive outcomes and impacts but it is also acknowledged that the literature on games is fragmented and lacking coherence (Ke, 2009). This lack of organisation is regarded as an obstacle to progress in understanding the effects of games, developing more effective games and proposing guidance about how best to use games in learning.

Empirical evidence on impacts and outcomes of games

Despite the optimism about the potential of games for learning, several authors have noted that there has been a dearth of high quality empirical evidence to support these claims (de Freitas, 2006; Wouters et al, 2009). Consequently the aim of the current paper is to address the question: “What empirical evidence is there concerning the positive impacts and outcomes of computer games?”. In line with modern accounts of effective learning, impacts and outcomes are defined very broadly to include

Databases searched

The electronic databases searched in this review included those identified as relevant to education, information technology and social science: ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), ASSIA (Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts), BioMed Central, Cambridge Journals Online, ChildData, Index to Theses, Oxford University Press (journals), Science Direct, EBSCO (consisting of Psychology and Behavioural Science, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts,

Papers identified by search terms

Table 1 below shows the number of papers in each of the databases that were identified using our search terms. As the table shows the search terms identified a large number of papers (7392) demonstrating the huge growth in interest in gaming during this time period.

Papers selected using our inclusion criteria

Table 1 also shows the number of papers in each database that met the inclusion criteria. Clearly most papers were found in the Science Direct database with Extended Academic ASAP and EBSCO the next most popular, followed by ERIC and

Discussion

It seems that, despite the overwhelming publicity given to the negative impact of games, like most technologies before them, computer games can have both positive and negative impacts. The current review focused on positive impacts of playing games, looking at how entertainment games, games for learning and serious games can engage players and support learning and skill acquisition.

The large number of papers (7392) identified using our search terms confirmed that there has been a surge of

Acknowledgements

This work has been co-funded by the EU under the FP7, in the Games and Learning Alliance (GaLA) Network of Excellence, Grant Agreement nr. 258169.

References (26)

  • C.A. Anderson

    An update on the effects of playing violent video games

    Journal of Adolescence

    (2004)
  • E.A. Boyle et al.

    The role of psychology in understanding the impact of computer games

    Entertainment Computing

    (2011)
  • K. Subrahmanyam et al.

    Effect of video game practice on spatial skills in girls and boys

    Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

    (1994)
  • C.A. Anderson et al.

    Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature

    Psychological Science

    (2001)
  • I. Bogost

    Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames

    (2007)
  • T.M. Connolly et al.

    Development of a general framework for evaluating games-based learning

  • K. Corti

    Games-based learning: a serious business application

    (2006)
  • C. Dede

    A new century demands new ways of learning: an excerpt from the digital classroom

  • M.J. Dondlinger

    Educational video games design: a review of the literature

    Journal of Applied Educational Technology

    (2007)
  • C.J. Ferguson

    The good, the bad and the ugly: a meta-analytic review of positive and negative effects of violent video games

    Psychiatric Q

    (2007)
  • S. de Freitas

    Learning in immersive worlds

    (2006)
  • R. Garris et al.

    Games, motivation, and learning: a research and practice model

    Simulation and Gaming

    (2002)
  • M.D. Griffiths et al.

    Excessive online computer gaming: implications for education

    Journal of Computer Assisted Learning

    (2002)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text