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Game-based learning has proven to be effective and is widely used science education, but usually the heterogeneity of the student is being overlooked. To examine the differential effects game interventions in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics) related subjects on diverse student groups, meta-analysis has been conducted that included 39 studies that game-based learning interventions with traditional classrooms in primary and early secondary education. We found moderate positive effects on cognition (g =. 67), motivation (g =. 51), behaviour (g =. 93). Additionally, substantial heterogeneity studies was found. Moderator analyses indicated that school students achieve higher learning outcomes and game interventions as more motivating than secondary students, whereas gender did not have any moderating. There were too few studies reporting information on the moderators (socioeconomic status, migration background, and special educational needs) to include them in multiple meta-regression model. Therefore, we assessed their by separate moderator analyses, but these results need to be with caution. Additional descriptive analyses suggested game-based learning may be less beneficial for students with socioeconomic status compared to students with high socioeconomic status.
Arztmann et al. (Tue,) studied this question.