The Effect of Challenging Game on Students’ Motivation and Flow Experience in Multi-touch Game-based Learning

Abstract

Advancements in technology have led to the continuous innovation of learning methods for students. Specifically, the use of multi-touch interfaces applied to game-based learning has been shown to be effective in attracting students’ interest and increasing their desire for participation. In this paper, we used a multi-touch game, an iPad app called Motion Math, to help students learn and put into practice the mathematical concepts of addition and subtraction. Based on findings from a pilot study, we categorized the game’s 18 levels of difficulty into challenging (experimental group) and matching (control group) games. We aimed to investigate whether the challenging games were better able to improve the students’ motivation andflow experiencein the experimental group as compared to that of the control group. The findings showed that the students in the experimental group achieved greater improvements in terms of flow learning experience.