Using Serious Games in Data Communications and Networking Management Course

• Published in: The Journal of computer information systems Vol. 58; no. 1; pp. 39 - 48
• Main Authors: Cheng, Xiaoye, Wang, Yichuan, Sankar, Chetan S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Stillwater Taylor & Francis 01.01.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Applications in subject area; Business schools; Cognition & reasoning; Communication skills; Computer & video games; computer-mediated communication; Educational software; Games; Information management; Information systems; interactive learning environments; Learning; Management information systems; multimedia/hypermedia systems; Network management systems; serious games; Students
• ISSN: 0887-4417; 2380-2057
• DOI: 10.1080/08874417.2016.1183465

Data communications and networking management is one important course taught in business schools. To prepare themselves for future career, students need to acquire the data communications skills and the higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) from this course so that they relate the relevance of the theory to practical problems. Prior literature shows that serious games offer an ability to trigger enjoyment in learning this difficult subject. Therefore, in this study, we empirically examined the effects of serious game feature on students' learning experience, focusing particularly on concentration and enjoyment, as well as measuring the perceived improvement in their HOCS. The results revealed that features of serious games have positive effects on students' concentration and enjoyment, and such learning experience did indeed significantly improve their perceived HOCS. The results encourage faculty members to adopt serious games to teach difficult subjects in the field of management information systems.