Personality traits and performance in online game-based learning: Collaborative versus individual settings

Extant research indicates that, in face-to-face settings, cooperative learning and game-based learning strategies can be effective. However, in online settings (e.g., in distance education), there is a paucity of research in this area. This study was designed to investigate performance and attitudes of university students who played an educational game collaboratively at different online locations, compared with those playing individually. Relationships among player game performance and personality traits were examined, as well as differences in patterns of gameplay and attitudes about their learning experience.;Participants were randomly assigned either to an individual or to a collaborative online game setting. All participants played an abridged version of the Diffusion Simulation Game (DSG) repeatedly during an 80-minute period. Those in collaborative dyads were paired based on level of agreeableness (one of the personality traits in the Big Five Model). Cooperative learning strategies for dyads required positive interdependence, group monitoring, and individual accountability.;DSG sessions occurred virtually in Second Life and were digitally captured. Participants also completed a learning achievement test, personality trait questionnaire and an attitude survey. The DSG itself also stored turn-by-turn histories of each game played.;Results indicated that cooperative dyads significantly outperformed individual players. Participants in both settings agreed that they enjoyed playing the game and considered it an effective way to learn. The personality trait, conscientiousness, was positively correlated with game performance in the individual setting, whereas both extraversion and agreeableness were negatively correlated with performance in the collaborative setting.;Results from Analysis of Patterns in Time indicated that, in both settings, for games with the highest scores, participants conducted more turns that involved cognitive processes, when compared with games with the lowest scores. In the collaborative setting, games resulting in the highest scores occurred when players negotiated actively, in contrast to games ending with the lowest scores.