Getting to the <3 of Things: How Game Feedback Enables Failure for Learning

Getting to the <3 of Things: How Game Feedback Enables Failure for Learning

Getting to the <3 of Things: How Game Feedback Enables Failure for Learning

Hillary Gould, Diogenes Santos, Joe Kohlburn, Danielle Oprean

Abstract

"Failure in serious games and its implications for scaffolding learning towards exploration remain understudied. We hypothesize providing more opportunities for safe failure leads to higher retention of concepts. Our case study examines the difference between including extra lives into a prototype serious game for geography through a quasi-experimental design that captured learning outcomes and failure rates. Participants reported more frustration when given fewer chances, and when having less familiarity with games in general. Our findings align with studies suggesting low-stakes environments allow comfortable experimentation and create opportunities for player persistence."

Reference

Gould, H., Santos, D., Kohlburn, J., & Oprean, D. (2025). Getting to the <3 of things: How game feedback enables failure for learning. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design, 13(2). https://edtechbooks.org/jaid_13_2/getting_to_the_3_of_things__how_game_feedback_enables_failure_for_learning

Keywords

Serious games, Safe failure, Learning retention