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This study examines how the functional role of pedagogical content in gameplay and the number of players affect learning outcomes and situational interest in an educational board game. We conducted research with 183 engineering students using four versions of the same game. The versions varied according to (a) whether processing the pedagogical content was required to succeed in the game (surface exposure vs. elaborative processing) and (b) the number of players (single-player vs. cooperative three-player). Results showed the effect of the elaborative processing on learning, whereas the effect of the number of players on interest was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that the educational effectiveness of games depends on how game mechanics structure learners’ cognitive engagement with instructional content.
Fleury et al. (Mon,) studied this question.