The effects of self-explanation on game-based learning: Evidence from eye-tracking analyses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of self-explanation prompts on game performance using eye-tracking techniques. We adopted an experimental design for the study. A total of 40 4th graders participated and were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. While the experimental group played a computer game with self-explanation prompts, the control group played the same game without any prompts. A Tobii 4C eye tracker with a sampling rate of 90 Hz was used to record the eye movements of the participants while they were playing the game. A pre-test and post-test were used to assess the participants’ understanding of the target concepts of the game before and after their game-playing, respectively. The results indicated an interaction effect between self-explanation and prior knowledge on the learning outcomes. Regarding the participants with lower-level prior knowledge, the experimental group gained significantly better scores on the posttest than the control group. In contrast, with respect to the participants with higher-level prior knowledge, the self-explanation prompts did not demonstrate a positive effect on the experimental group. Moreover, the results of the lag sequential analysis provide solid evidence of the differences in visual transitional patterns between the participants with different levels of prior knowledge while they were reacting to the self-explanation prompts. These results could account for the different learning outcomes achieved by the participants with different levels of prior knowledge in the experimental group.