I Don't Usually Listen, I Read: How Different Learner Groups Process Game Feedback

Abstract

Outcome and elaborative feedback in games can scaffold learners to recognise errors and apply corrective strategies. However, there is little evidence that indicates how children process such feedback. Using an active intervention approach, this study empirically evaluated how three groups of primary-aged children with different profiles-novice readers, children with reading difficulties, and children learning English as a foreign language-attended to, understood, and acted upon feedback within a digital literacy game. Children's gameplay and verbalisations across groups were compared through systematic video analysis. Our findings demonstrate that all readers benefited from visual, non-verbal outcome feedback, which supported accurate interpretations of their performance, but groups attended to it differentially. Older children noticed auditory, verbal elaborative feedback more than novice readers, but all children struggled to understand it, instead relying on implicit knowledge to correct future responses. We conclude by highlighting several contributions to games-based learning research, game design, and pedagogical practice.