Educational Computer Game for learning History: Impact on learners' level of knowledge and learners' satisfaction

Abstract

Educational computer games have been adopted, for a long time, as a valuable tool in the learning and teaching of several subjects such as physics concepts, science, reading and spelling. These games are considered as a powerful instrument for teaching as they and succeeded in improving learners' motivation, increase learners' desire to learn, make learning more enjoyable, and lead learners to complete more difficult work. However, the use of these games for learning also has potential to affect the learning experience negatively if the game designer does not balance between a set of critical factors. Generally, the right combination of fun gameplay and appropriate learning experience constitutes a good opportunity for creating an effective educational game that supports the learners to acquire knowledge and to increase their competency. In this context, this paper introduces and describes a new educational computer game, called “LAST MISSION”, especially designed for learning the history of the World War 1 and the World War 2. In addition, this work seeks, through a pilot study, to investigate whether the use of this educational computer game has a positive effect on learners' level of knowledge and learners' satisfaction.