Emerging practice with games-based learning - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 73

finds that games enhance motivation, attitudes, knowledge and skills (Sandford
et al. 2006), critics point to serious methodological flaws, as the 'evidence is nei-
ther extensive nor robust' (Miller and Robertson 2010: 2). Although the benefits
of games have been identified as pertaining to greater engagement and enhance-
ment of certain skills and attitudes, there is much less reporting on the outcomes
of gaming on attainment. To date, there are far fewer studies that measure impact
on learner performance.
The research in this field has been seriously critiqued and what is clearly
missing is a robust connection between playing educational games and a positive
impact on achievement and concomitant increase in learning outcomes. Miller and
Robertson (2010) argue that research has focused on beliefs and attitudes rather
than performance data, with no measures of learning gains being reported; conse-
quently, many studies fail to inform educators about fundamental issues. Similarly,
Miller and Robertson (2010) argue that the research base to date is insufficiently
robust to support sound conclusions due to methodological weaknesses regarding
the absence of control groups and lack of statistical data in the majority of studies.
Reporting has been fraught with problems regarding the quality of the studies -
in particular, the dangers of generalizing from small samples. To this end, Miller
and Robertson (2010) conducted a study with 634 primary school children, in 32
schools across Scotland on the use of a 'Brain Training' game with 10-11-year-olds
using a hand-held console. This was in response to their earlier study in 2009 with
71 children, which indicated gains in mathematical computation for speed and
accuracy, but was felt not to be generalizable, unless a far greater number of learn-
ers participated.
In the replicated study of 2010, Miller and Robertson examined the effects of
a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) game on children's mental computational skills
using a hand-held Nintendo DS console. The aim was to investigate changes in chil-
dren's mental computational performance over nine weeks using Dr Kawashima's Brain
Training for 20 minutes at the start of each day at school. From the sample, schools
were randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. Significant gains in
accuracy and speed of calculations were found in both groups. However, gains in
the experimental groups were 50 per cent greater than those of the control group
for accuracy, and twice those of the controls for speed. Miller and Robertson (2010: 3)
identified the benefits of gaming in terms of 'faster processing of information,
enhanced selection of relevant material and high levels of engagement and interest'.
They also found a statistically significant improvement in attitude to school. Interest-
ingly, in comparison, Ke (2008) examined the use of computer games in maths and
found more positive attitudes towards the subject, but no significant improvement
or gain in mathematics performance. This signifies the complexity of the research to
date and the need for further work to address the inconclusiveness and contradictory
findings of previous studies.
With respect to the need to generate an evidence base of effective practice , the
Mobile Learning Network (MoLeNET) published an extensive range of case studies
for practitioners, which demonstrated how gaming technologies can motivate disen-
gaged learners; support students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD);