A Systematic Review on the Neuro-Cognitive Correlates of Game-Based Learning in Higher Education Learning Environments

Introduction

Game-based learning (GBL) is a new mass medium with many games that allow learners to interact, participating actively and not just passively receiving information (Lytras et al., 2018). Over the past decade, the popularity of game-based learning has led to an explosion of numerous genres of game research and development. Despite the increasing interest in games and gamification in recent years, games in general still suffer from the prevalent public perception that gameplay is merely an entertainment medium (Jeong so & Minhwi, 2018). Game is defined as any mental and physical activity which is characterized by goals, rules, challenges, having a feedback system, voluntary participation (Game & Mcgonical, 2011; Prensky; 2001) and videogame is a complex digital medium with gaming properties that requires active interaction with the human and the computers (Galloway, 2006; Wadrip-Fruin, 2009). The pandemic pedagogy has even made game-based learning more relevant as most of the teaching fraternity has used this platform in the teaching-learning process.

The use of game-based learning in education has recently received everyone’s attention, but games have always been available in the teaching-learning process. Education is one of the fields to test newly emerging technologies (Cantoni & Blas, 2006). Game-based learning is one of the technologies that started widely grabbing the interest of various learners (Miller, 2008). In the Indian higher education learning environment, the teaching fraternity has incorporated GBL into every subject. The critical component is that the learners, even though they also need some fun, adventurous and competitive environment at an adolescent level. The learners are getting more engaged during GBL, and understanding the subject is also remarkable.

Years back, there was a negative approach to game-based learning as the game was not well designed, which affected the reputation of the game learning. The literature suggests that there have been three generations of educational games distinctively designed by the underlying pedagogical practices in game design and purpose (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, 2007; Ulicsak, 2010). The first generation is broadly termed edutainment which included education and entertainment elements leveraging various media and technology. There was a strong influence of behaviourism using the reward system for a correct response, drill and practice games, and brain training games fall into this. In the second generation, education games began to employ more cognitive and constructivist approaches in the gameplay. The players experience a multimodal interactive experience during this game-based learning. Simulation games and micro-worlds characterize this generation of games. The teaching was not linked with a simple reward pathway, instead of through scaffolding, exploration and problem-solving. Scaffolding is a learning process, as mentioned by Lev Vygotsky. In the third generation, educational games are highly influenced by socio-cultural and constructivist perspectives. The role of social interaction and cultural processes plays a role in the game design and gameplay in a simulated virtual environment (Jeong so & Minhwi, 2018).The objective of this systematic review is to understand the changes observed in the neural and cognitive correlates while higher education students get engaged in game based learning and to give an overview of this understanding in further figuring out the usefulness of game based learning for sustainable education in future.