The Impact Of Collaboration On Digital Game-based Learning:The Effect Of Collaboration Patterns And Group Composition

With the arrival of the digital wave and the promotion of educational informatization,the emerging teaching model represented by digital game-based learning is increasingly becoming a powerful force for educational innovation and change.Digital game-based learning had great potential to develop cognitive skills and enhance learning motivation.Collaboration was a core design mechanism in educational games.The Collaboration patterns and group composition were the influences of two factors in game-based collaborative learning.Nevertheless,researchers remained divided on whether and how these factors influence collaborative learning in game situation.Furthermore,the collaborative cognitive load theory emphasized that the antecedents,processes and outcomes of collaboration should be studied in an integrated manner.However,how collaborative processes are involved in the impact of collaborative antecedents on outcomes has not been considered by previous researchers.Therefore,the present study investigated the impact of collaborative schemas and group composition for game-based collaborative learning through two studies based on collaborative cognitive load theory,and examined the interbrain basis of digital game-based collaborative learning,further exploring the intrinsic links between collaborative antecedents,processes,and outcomes.In study 1,a one-way between-subjects design was used to examine the effects of different collaboration models(in-game collaboration vs.out-of-game collaboration vs.no collaboration)on game-based collaborative learning.108 college students were assigned to three conditions: the in-game collaboration,the out-of-game collaboration,and the nocollaboration.The findings revealed that(1)learners in the in-game Collaboration pattern had higher knowledge acquisition,higher germane cognitive load,and higher communication quality than learners in the out-of-game collaborative mode and the nocollaboration condition;(2)germane cognitive load had the full mediating effect in the relation between the Collaboration patterns and knowledge retention.The in-game collaborative model could promote knowledge retention by increasing the germane cognitive load.Based on study 1,a one-way between-subjects design was used in study 2to investigate the effects of different group composition based on prior knowledge(highhigh vs.high-low vs.low-low)on game-based collaborative learning.In addition to the behavioral experiment,Study 2 used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to further assess inter-brain synchronization under different group composition based prior knowledge.The 106 undergraduate students were recruited and assigned to three experimental conditions: high-high prior knowledge composition,high-low prior knowledge composition,and low-low prior knowledge composition.The results showed that(1)learners in the high-high prior knowledge composition produced higher interpersonal neural synchronization,more positive learning performance,lower intrinsic cognitive load,and higher learning motivation than other conditions;(2)interpersonal neural synchronization in the high prior knowledge composition was closely related to communication quality and learning retention.The higher the interpersonal neural synchronization of the learner,the higher the quality of communication and the better the retention performance;(3)Collaboration quality had the mediating effect in the relation between the interpersonal neural synchronization and learning retention.Interbrain synchrony facilitates learning retention by promoting communication quality.To summarize,the current findings suggested that(1)collaborative patterns and group composition played a mediating role in the effects of collaboration on digital game-based learning.Learners in in-game Collaboration patterns and high-high prior knowledge composition produced the best learning performance;(2)interpersonal neural synchronization,which reflects academic performance and the quality of communication,was a valid neural representation of game-based collaborative learning.Interpersonal neural synchronization was higher for the high-high prior knowledge composition;(3)the variables of collaborative process had a mediating effect in the relation between the collaborative antecedents and collaborative outcomes.These findings provided useful pedagogical guidance on how to conduct collaborative learning in game situation.At the same time,these research evidences enriched the connotation of interpersonal neural synchronization in instructional interactions and provided a useful exploration of how to conduct interpersonal neuroscience research in digital game-based learning contexts.In addition,the current study offered strong empirical support for hypotheses about the relationship between antecedents,processes and outcomes of collaboration,which contributed to our understanding of the mechanisms by which collaboration models and group composition influence collaborative results through the collaborative process.