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The teaching of science through computer games, simulations, and artificial intelligence is a growing subject of research (Almuraqab et al., 2024; Ullah et al., 2022). Gaining and maintaining learners’ attention in the classroom has become increasingly difficult because of the diversity of learning styles and their impact on attitudes toward learning processes and content. Serious games (SG) offer a promising solution by introducing an engaging, gamified approach to education. These games enhance student involvement and motivation through interactive, hands-on experiences that make learning both exciting and effective.
SG in education have gained widespread popularity globally, with the market valued at approximately $5.94 billion in 2020. Over the past two years, the sector has experienced an impressive growth rate of nearly 100% annually. The SG market is projected to continue its rapid growth, with an expected value of $32.72 billion by 2030 (Tan, 2023).
Although first-generation business games (BG) historically had a generalist focus, recent literature indicates that games are being used to enhance learner engagement in a certain number of specific disciplines such as crisis management (de Vittoris & Cros, 2023), information systems (Farkas et al., 2023) and accounting (Reginato et al, 2022)
The use of games in education aims to attract students’ attention and seeks to make them more engaged in the classrooms. The fact that students are digital natives means that they learn and process information differently (Abdou & Jasimuddin 2020; Prensky, 2001). They have been exposed to information technology from birth and are used to blogging, gaming, and social networking. Consequently, teachers from different disciplines are integrating innovative learning media as a part of a broader teaching toolkit.
Two different ways of utilizing games for education have been proposed, namely gamification and SG. Gamification is the use of game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts (Werbach and Hunter, 2012). Then there are games that prompt the users to interact with a computer application that aims to combine aspects of teaching, learning, training, communication, or information. SG encourage individual and team-based learning as well as individual engagement in the learning process (Daniel et al., 2024; Lohmann et al.,2019; Ypsilanti et al., 2014;). For the purposes of this study, SG are considered to be BG that rely on such software and integrate gamification features.
Learners have different learning styles that influence their attitudes toward learning processes and contents. Learning styles are a crucial concept to consider when developing or proposing educational games (Garber et al., 2012). Since learners have different learning styles, their requirements are quite different regarding their interaction with a given game. In addition, motivation is a determinant ingredient to guarantee better engagement with the gaming scenario. The use of SG in the field of education positively impacts the motivation to learn (Ebner and Holzinger, 2007; Iten and Petko,2016, Zairi et al., 2022). In fact, the potential of learning through SG can have a positive psychological impact upon students, leading them to become more responsive and motivated (Ebner and Holzinger, 2007; Iten and Petko, 2016). The impact of the gaming experience and of learning styles on motivation and engagement needs to be studied in a real case setting with the aim of leveraging better understanding about the influences of the different constructs upon each other and upon individual performance. Deeper understanding of student behavior is required if the proposed learning materials and tools are to be enhanced.