Wirkungen des Flow-Erlebens in einem Serious Game auf die Veränderung von Fachwissen und Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung

Promoting girls in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology, the STEM subjects, is of great importance in order to give them career prospects in this field and reduce gender inequality. Despite considerable efforts, there is a persistent gender gap in STEM education and the world of work. One reason for this is seen in differences in self-perception. Despite objectively equal performance, female students rate their abilities in STEM fields lower than male students in terms of future success, i.e. self-efficacy expectations. This results in them not choosing subjects and professions in these areas. Serious games - digital games that are specially developed for educational and learning purposes - could have the potential to increase students’ self-efficacy expectations and enable individual support, which is also beneficial for learning. The interactive and playful nature of serious games can enable the so-called flow experience, a state of complete immersion and concentrated dedication to an activity. This flow experience can help to strengthen students’ sense of self-efficacy by allowing them to explore and develop their skills in a supportive and engaging environment. This assumption forms the core of this study, which examines the effects of a serious game in the field of electricity on the flow experience, learning and self-efficacy expectations of students. A total of363 students (310 complete questionnaires) took part in a pre-post design with a control group. The results show that the serious game enables more flow experience than the conventional teaching materials of the control group with a low effect size. There were gender-specific differences within the experimental and control groups: In both groups, male students experienced more flow than female students. In both groups, the experience of flow was a predictor of the expectation of self-efficacy after the intervention; only in the control group was the experience of flow also able to predict subject knowledge. The study also shows that expertise before the intervention is not important for the learning effectiveness of the game. The results show evidence that high flow experience and high self-efficacy expectancy occur together, as they are caused by similar components of the settings. Thus, self-efficacy expectations could be improved by suitable teaching scenarios that take into account both the theory of self-efficacy expectations and elements of the flow experience. A positive learning environment that takes girls’ interests and needs into account could make a significant contribution to promoting girls in STEM fields in order to bridge the gender gap in STEM education and the world of work. Read