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Brain Points: A Deeper Look at a Growth Mindset Incentive Structure for an Educational Game

Authors:

Eleanor O'Rourke,

Carol S. Dweck,

Zoran PopovicAuthors Info & Claims

L@S '16: Proceedings of the Third (2016) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale

Pages 41 - 50

https://doi.org/10.1145/2876034.2876040

Published: 25 April 2016 Publication History

Abstract

Student retention is a central challenge in systems for learning at scale. It has been argued that educational video games could improve student retention by providing engaging experiences and informing the design of other online learning environments. However, educational games are not uniformly effective. Our recent research shows that player retention can be increased by using a brain points incentive structure that rewards behaviors associated with growth mindset, or the belief that intelligence can grow. In this paper, we expand on our prior work by providing new insights into how growth mindset behaviors can be effectively promoted in the educational game Refraction. We present results from an online study of 25,000 children who were exposed to five different versions of the brain points intervention. We find that growth mindset animations cause a large number of players to quit, while brain points encourage persistence. Most importantly, we find that awarding brain points randomly is ineffective; the incentive structure is successful specifically because it rewards desirable growth mindset behaviors. These findings have important implications that can support the future generalization of the brain points intervention to new educational contexts.

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Cited By

Ko DPark J(2024)I Play Online Games Because I Believe in a Just Virtual WorldJournal of Media Psychology10.1027/1864-1105/a000438Online publication date: 9-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000438
Niemelä PHukkanen JNurminen MHuhtamäki J(2024)Encouraging Grading: Per Aspera Ad A-StarsComputer Supported Education10.1007/978-3-031-53656-4_2(23-46)Online publication date: 15-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53656-4_2
Vanacore KSales ALiu AOttmar ESpikol DViberg OMartínez-Monés AGuo P(2023)Benefit of Gamification for Persistent Learners: Propensity to Replay Problems Moderates Algebra-Game EffectivenessProceedings of the Tenth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale10.1145/3573051.3593395(164-173)Online publication date: 20-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3573051.3593395
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Index Terms

Brain Points: A Deeper Look at a Growth Mindset Incentive Structure for an Educational Game
1. Applied computing
  1. Education
    1. Interactive learning environments
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)

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Reviews

Reviewer: Stewart Mark Godwin

This research builds on previous work by the authors and follows up with an experimental design that adds depth to the original paper [1]. A growth mindset is the belief that student intelligence can be taught and will increase over time. This research encourages a growth mindset by "using a novel brain points incentive structure that directly rewards students for their [persistence and] effort." Following up from the previous research, the authors constructed five different versions of an educational game to answer four research questions. One version of the game was used as the control while the other four versions examined each of the question variables of the research topic. The first study used a sample size of 15,000 students while this study used a larger sample size of 25,000 students. This enormous sample size is the reason the authors could not compare the data from each of the four versions of the educational game. Despite this limitation, each question did reveal significant information; for example, the narrative animation in the game did cause players to quit before starting the first level. However, the brain points incentive increased player persistence and was effective because it rewarded desirable growth mindset behavior. In conclusion, this research has the potential to improve student retention in online education and should be of interest to all educational professionals. Online Computing Reviews Service

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

L@S '16: Proceedings of the Third (2016) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale

April 2016

446 pages

ISBN:9781450337267

DOI:10.1145/2876034

General Chair:
Jeff Haywood
The University of Edinburgh, UK
,
Program Chairs:
Vincent Aleven
Carnegie Mellon University, USA
,
Judy Kay
University of Sydney, Australia
,
Ido Roll
University of British Columbia, Canada

Copyright © 2016 ACM.

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Published: 25 April 2016

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L@S 2016: Third (2016) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale

April 25 - 26, 2016

Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

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L@S '16 Paper Acceptance Rate 18 of 79 submissions, 23%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 117 of 440 submissions, 27%

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Cited By

Ko DPark J(2024)I Play Online Games Because I Believe in a Just Virtual WorldJournal of Media Psychology10.1027/1864-1105/a000438Online publication date: 9-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000438
Niemelä PHukkanen JNurminen MHuhtamäki J(2024)Encouraging Grading: Per Aspera Ad A-StarsComputer Supported Education10.1007/978-3-031-53656-4_2(23-46)Online publication date: 15-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53656-4_2
Vanacore KSales ALiu AOttmar ESpikol DViberg OMartínez-Monés AGuo P(2023)Benefit of Gamification for Persistent Learners: Propensity to Replay Problems Moderates Algebra-Game EffectivenessProceedings of the Tenth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale10.1145/3573051.3593395(164-173)Online publication date: 20-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3573051.3593395
Krumm ACoulson ANeisler JWise AMartinez-Maldonado RHilliger I(2022)Defining Productive Struggle in ST MathLAK22: 12th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference10.1145/3506860.3506901(514-520)Online publication date: 21-Mar-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3506860.3506901
Gorman GMcKelvey NDowling T(2021)Gamification of Computer Programming Tasks to Promote the Growth Mind-Set in a Disadvantaged SchoolInternational Journal of Game-Based Learning10.4018/IJGBL.28782712:1(1-24)Online publication date: 26-Nov-2021
https://doi.org/10.4018/IJGBL.287827
Inchamnan WChomsuan J(2021)The Gamification Design for Affordances PedagogyAdvances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems Journal10.25046/aj0604166:4(138-146)Online publication date: Jul-2021
https://doi.org/10.25046/aj060416
Israel‐Fishelson RHershkovitz A(2021)Micro‐persistence and difficulty in a game‐based learning environment for computational thinking acquisitionJournal of Computer Assisted Learning10.1111/jcal.1252737:3(839-850)Online publication date: 31-Jan-2021
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12527
Sahagun MMoser RShomaker JFortier J(2021)Developing a growth-mindset pedagogy for higher education and testing its efficacySocial Sciences & Humanities Open10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.1001684:1(100168)Online publication date: 2021
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100168
Lin CYang SLin KLooi CChen Y(2021)Explorations of two approaches to learning CT in a game environment for elementary school studentsJournal of Computers in Education10.1007/s40692-021-00203-x9:2(261-290)Online publication date: 7-Oct-2021
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-021-00203-x
Kao D(2020)Exploring Help Facilities in Game-Making SoftwareProceedings of the 15th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games10.1145/3402942.3403014(1-14)Online publication date: 15-Sep-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3402942.3403014
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