Design and Evaluation of a Collaborative Educational Game: BECO Games

Abstract

This paper describes the design and validation of a game based on a platform for easy deployment of collaborative educational games, named BECO Games platform. As an example of its potential, a learning experience for an Economics subject was created through a collaborative game to understand the concept of common goods. The effectiveness of the game was tested by comparing the performance of Bachelor students who used the platform and those who did not (137 students vs. 92 students). In addition, it was controlled that in previous years when students played the game through forums and an Excel sheet, these differences did not exist. Results indicate that the performance differences between students who participated in the online game and those who did not were greater than in previous years. In addition, a satisfaction survey was delivered to the students to understand their impressions better. This survey assessed student opinion about the platform, about the educational experience, and about their behavior during the game.