Educational games for teens have emerged as a popular means to engage young people in the learning process, while increasing effectiveness and interactivity. But do they actually do what they say? This post will look at what research and experience say about the true impact of educational games for teens.
What Are Educational Games for Teens?
Educational games for teens can be anything from digital games (apps and online platforms), to board games that are based on strategy. They can involve content concepts like math, science, language arts, history, and even financial literacy. The primary objective is to teach or reinforce a concept while promoting entertainment. This helps to make difficult, or complex, concepts more engaging or digestible.
How Do Educational Games Influence Learning?
Active Engagement and Knowledge Retention:
Educational games involve students in learning that becomes an active process, rather than a passive process. When teens are engaged in challenges, puzzles, and simulations, they can create evidence of engagement in a way that enhances memorable experiences for learning. Numerous studies show that students are more likely to remember content learned through gameplay than when exposing the same content through lectures or memorization.
Incentives and Participation:
Digital games offer instant gratification, or rewards, and instant feedback, which can be compelling motivators. When teens are able to pursue and actively participate in a learning task while using elements of game play, such as points, badges, and leaderboards, they are far more likely to sustain persistence in the task.
Development of Essential Skills:
Many educational games have students learning skills like strategic thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication. Board games and collaborative digital platforms can be used to get students to practice skills of planning, decision-making and social awareness—skills that are important for success not only in academic settings, but also in life beyond school.
Customizable and Adaptive Learning:
Contemporary learning games can be customized to adapt according to a learner's pace and interests, and will provide personalized challenges to keep teenagers engaged while meeting specific, individualized learning needs.
What Does the Research Indicate?
The expanding body of research suggests that games can be an effective learning tool for teenagers:
Ultimate learning results:
Meta-analyses show that students using digital educational games often show greater proficiency than peers learning through traditional forms of instruction, and especially in the mastery of complex content.
Enhanced Motivation:
Studies indicate that educational games can significantly increase student motivation, engagement and willingness to explore new content as compared to traditional pedagogy.
Cognitive and Affective Benefits:
Research from neuroscientists shows that the young adult brain is a developing brain with high plasticity that will form and strengthen connections based on experience. Games activate numerous areas of the brain which contribute to creating and strengthening connections and enabling long-term learning. Dopamine is also released during games, which leads to motivation and retention.
Possible Disadvantages and Considerations
While the positives are apparent, educational games are not a one-size-fits-all solution:
Differing Levels of Motivation:
Not all teens may find educational games motivating in equal measure. Some may simply enjoy 'traditional' games for entertainment, and if there is a sense that the game is forced education or boring education, motivation can deteriorate.
Academic Outcomes:
A few studies have pointed out that educational video games on occasion do not lead to academic improvement, especially in the case of poorly designed educational games or when students are not intrinsically connected to the content.
Screen Time and Balance
It is also important to balance the time spent on educational games with other learning experiences, as well as being mindful of screen time so burnout or distraction do not occur.
Educational Games Best Practices
Identify games that match their teens' interests and learning objectives if you wish for them to be engaged.
Select games that are able to provide immediate feedback and can provide a mode of play that meets individual skill levels.
Provide both digital and hands-on games so they can develop a variety of skills.
Support group play to promote collaboration and communication.
If you are a high school student pushing yourself to stand out in college applications, RISE Research offers a unique opportunity to work one-on-one with mentors from top universities around the world.
Through personalized guidance and independent research projects that can lead to prestigious publications, RISE Research helps you build a standout academic profile and develop skills that set you apart. With flexible program dates and global accessibility, ambitious students can apply year-round. To learn more about eligibility, costs, and how to get started, visit RISE research and take your college preparation to the next level!
Read More
