CELL LIFE: A MOBILE SERIOUS GAME FOR CELL BIOLOGY LEARNING

Serious Games employ game mechanics to create digital learning contents that are engaging and enjoyable for the students. However, the effects of game mechanics on motivation, learning effectivity or retention are still unknown to some point. In this work, we develop a mobile application that aims at being a teaching tool for students of secondary school level. This mobile application deals with the study of the different organelles of the eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Two conditions are evaluated: a version of the game with some game mechanics such as time constraints or bonus points; and a version without any mechanic. The effects of these conditions in enjoyment, learning, accuracy and task completion time were measured in a user trial (N = 249). Summarizing the main conclusions, the version using a game mechanics made the students more accurate and faster; however, the mid-term retention was reduced compared to the version without any game mechanics.