Emotional Foundations of Game-Based Learning

By some estimates, the average student will have spent 10,000 hours playing computer-based games by age 21—as much time as they will have spent at school (McGonigal, 2010). Therefore, taking advantage of students’ motivation to engage in gaming to
help them acquire knowledge seems to be an especially promising way to advance learning in the twenty-first century. However, the mechanisms underlying successful game-based learning (GBL) remain poorly understood. In this chapter, we focus on one important group of factors that likely shape digital GBL: learners’ emotions.

This chapter provides a review of these emotional foundations of digital GBL. We first provide examples of emotion-relevant
elements of GBL, using the well-studied intelligent game Crystal Island (Rowe, Shores, Mott, & Lester, 2011) as a case study.
Next, we define emotion and discuss types of emotions relevant to GBL. We then offer an integrative model of the emotional foundations of GBL and use this model to review the extant literature. Finally, we derive implications for the design of emotionally sound GBLEs and outline directions for future research.

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