Flow, Motivation, Social Interaction, and Design Issues of Serious Games in Education

Introduction

“Serious games” are games used for education, management, training, simulation, or health (Susi et al., 2007). Although the “serious game” term was firstly used in the 1970s, this term in a digital framework began to be used with the Serious Gaming Initiative that started in 2002 (De Gloria et al., 2014). Hence, this chapter focuses on serious games played on different platforms using various digital technologies such as computers, consoles, and mobile devices. In recent years, there has been increased scholarly interest in serious games, especially in the field of education (De Gloria et al., 2014; Gómez & Suárez, 2021). Serious games can be considered entertaining educational tools that allow players to develop their knowledge and skills through immersive gaming experiences (Almeida & Simoes, 2019; Zhonggen, 2019). Serious games can contribute to adolescents’ educational use of computers (Cilesiz, 2009), as computer games are fun and interactive, creating an enjoyable environment for young learners (Prensky, 2001). Serious games can also improve metacognition skills, as students like to strategize, plan, and organize in digital game environments. As Ritterfeld and Weber (2006) noted, “it seems plausible that video game players benefit from metacognitive strategies in situations in which a challenge cannot be mastered” (p. 403). Existing strategies in digital games can enhance metacognitive skills, which play an important role in educational settings, as they help students recognize others’ thoughts. From this point of view, serious games can be beneficial not only in developing students’ sense of aesthetics but also in their metacognitive skills.

When creating serious games, developers should consider several features that support effective learning. For example, Lieberman (2006) outlined nine areas of interactive games and learning: “motivation to learn, perception and coordination, thinking and problem solving, knowledge, skills and behaviors, self-regulation and therapy, self-concepts, social relationships, and attitudes and values” (p. 380). Of these concepts, motivation to learn is especially important, as it highlights how serious games encourage effective learning. In serious games, the content, appeal, challenge to reach a goal, emotions and fun, interactivity, engagement, flow, and storyline all these concepts contribute to a player’s motivation to learn (Lieberman, 2006). Although entertainment is the primary means of grabbing players’ attention in digital games, other components such as flow, interactivity, and challenge engage players in serious games while also supporting educational goals. In other words, because entertainment is not an independent mechanism offered in serious games, entertainment must be supplemented with other effective components to keep players interested.

Zhonggen (2019) listed five main technical components affecting serious game practices in education: realism, backstory and production, artificial intelligence, interaction, and debriefing. According to Zhonggen (2019), realism describes how much the game satisfies students’ needs. Backstory and production concern the impacts of the main game generation process. Artificial intelligence concerns the balance between game components and students’ responses. Interaction describes various communication types, such as game–student, game–teacher, and student–teacher. Finally, debriefing refers to the reporting and communication process that emerges as a result of gameplay. All these factors can enhance the success of serious game practices in education. Therefore, educators, students, game designers, and other officials should apply these factors to serious game development and use in education. In addition to these factors, there are three main components directly related to serious games: flow, motivation, and social interaction. When reviewing game studies literature, these concepts are less often studied, especially in the context of serious games in education. To address this gap, this study mainly focuses on the theories and practices of flow, motivation, and social interaction within serious games in education.