Effectiveness of serious games on learning achievement of DC circuit concepts compared with educational simulations.

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Title: Effectiveness of serious games on learning achievement of DC circuit concepts compared with educational simulations.
Authors: Achour, Mohamed1 (AUTHOR) mohamed.achour1@usmba.ac.ma, Khouna, Jalal1,2 (AUTHOR), Tahiri, Ahmed1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Research in Science & Technological Education. Jun2026, Vol. 44 Issue 2, p670-690. 21p.
Subject Terms: *Educational games, *Electrical engineering education, *Emotions, *Student engagement, *Simulation methods in education, *Academic achievement, *Gamification, Direct current circuits
Abstract: Background: With the increasing adoption of educational technologies in recent years, related studies on the potential of serious games (SGs) in learning electricity have notable limitations, particularly in their comparison with educational simulations (ESs). Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a serious game (SG) compared to an educational simulation (ES) on learning achievement of DC circuit concepts among senior students. It also attempts to measure the impact of these learning technologies on students' emotional behaviors. Methods: This research employs an experimental design using group comparisons. The targeted sample comprises secondary high school students from two different groups at a Moroccan public school. The experimental group includes 44 students who participated in learning activities using the serious game (SG), while the control group consists of 40 students who learned through the educational simulation (ES). Results and conclusion: The findings revealed that the serious game (SG) led to a positive and significant improvement in understanding DC circuit concepts among senior students. While there was no statistically significant difference between the game and simulation groups regarding objective learning achievement, the game group demonstrated several notable characteristics. Students using the serious game (SG) were more concentrated, perceived higher subjective knowledge gains, and showed significantly greater interest in electricity topics compared to their peers in the simulation group. Surprisingly, the learning experience through gamification was not perceived as more enjoyable than interactive simulation-based learning. The findings also showed no relationship between objective learning gained by serious game (SG) and perceived emotional outcomes. However, self-reported cognitive gains, increased concentration, electricity topic-related interest and the enjoyment aspect are moderately correlated with each other. In light of these findings, this study offers promising recommendations for developing effective SG designs, and identifies external aspects that should be considered in the future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Research in Science & Technological Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 193980786
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  Data: Effectiveness of serious games on learning achievement of DC circuit concepts compared with educational simulations.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Achour%2C+Mohamed%22">Achour, Mohamed</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> mohamed.achour1@usmba.ac.ma</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Khouna%2C+Jalal%22">Khouna, Jalal</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tahiri%2C+Ahmed%22">Tahiri, Ahmed</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Research+in+Science+%26+Technological+Education%22">Research in Science & Technological Education</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 44 Issue 2, p670-690. 21p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+games%22">Educational games</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electrical+engineering+education%22">Electrical engineering education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Emotions%22">Emotions</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+engagement%22">Student engagement</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Simulation+methods+in+education%22">Simulation methods in education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+achievement%22">Academic achievement</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gamification%22">Gamification</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Direct+current+circuits%22">Direct current circuits</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Background: With the increasing adoption of educational technologies in recent years, related studies on the potential of serious games (SGs) in learning electricity have notable limitations, particularly in their comparison with educational simulations (ESs). Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a serious game (SG) compared to an educational simulation (ES) on learning achievement of DC circuit concepts among senior students. It also attempts to measure the impact of these learning technologies on students' emotional behaviors. Methods: This research employs an experimental design using group comparisons. The targeted sample comprises secondary high school students from two different groups at a Moroccan public school. The experimental group includes 44 students who participated in learning activities using the serious game (SG), while the control group consists of 40 students who learned through the educational simulation (ES). Results and conclusion: The findings revealed that the serious game (SG) led to a positive and significant improvement in understanding DC circuit concepts among senior students. While there was no statistically significant difference between the game and simulation groups regarding objective learning achievement, the game group demonstrated several notable characteristics. Students using the serious game (SG) were more concentrated, perceived higher subjective knowledge gains, and showed significantly greater interest in electricity topics compared to their peers in the simulation group. Surprisingly, the learning experience through gamification was not perceived as more enjoyable than interactive simulation-based learning. The findings also showed no relationship between objective learning gained by serious game (SG) and perceived emotional outcomes. However, self-reported cognitive gains, increased concentration, electricity topic-related interest and the enjoyment aspect are moderately correlated with each other. In light of these findings, this study offers promising recommendations for developing effective SG designs, and identifies external aspects that should be considered in the future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Research in Science & Technological Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/02635143.2025.2547925
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 21
        StartPage: 670
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Educational games
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Electrical engineering education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Emotions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student engagement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Simulation methods in education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Academic achievement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gamification
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Direct current circuits
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Effectiveness of serious games on learning achievement of DC circuit concepts compared with educational simulations.
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            NameFull: Achour, Mohamed
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            NameFull: Khouna, Jalal
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            NameFull: Tahiri, Ahmed
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            – D: 01
              M: 06
              Text: Jun2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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