Effects of game-based learning in STEM education vary substantially across studies, with prediction intervals spanning trivial-to-negative through very strong effects¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr?·q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Between-study heterogeneity is large (I2 76%-92%) and true effects disperse widely around the mean, including negative effects in some populations. → Michaela Arztmann 2023
Evidence¶
Michaela Arztmann 2023¶
Michaela Arztmann, Lisette Hornstra, Johan Jeuring & Liesbeth Kester (2023). Effects of games in STEM education: a meta-analysis on the moderating role of student background characteristics. Studies in Science Education, 59:1, 109-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2022.2057732
q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r?
Random-effects meta-analysis reporting heterogeneity statistics: I2 ranges from 76% to 92% across the three outcomes, and the article states "the dispersion of effects around this mean is substantial", with prediction intervals of −0.11 to +1.12 for motivation and +0.08 to +1.78 for behaviour.
"For cognition, the 95% prediction interval ranges from −0.38 to +1.76. This means, that in the population represented by the included studies, the true effect size in 95% of cases will fall somewhere in this range"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- School level shows a marginal moderating effect on motivational outcomes, with secondary students experiencing a lower motivating effect than primary students
- Design parameters for preschool outcomes show substantial heterogeneity across populations, as reflected in wide 95% prediction intervals — related
- Effects of AI literacy interventions vary considerably across contexts, with most variance between studies (71.361%) and a wide prediction interval — related
- The positive GenAI writing effect is robust across dependence-aware, sensitivity, and risk-of-bias specifications, but the wide prediction interval spans near-zero to large effects — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- School level moderates cognitive effects of game-based learning in STEM: games are less effective for secondary than primary school students — related
- Game-based learning in primary and early secondary STEM education shows moderate positive effects on cognition, motivation, and behaviour compared to traditional classrooms — related
- Effect sizes vary widely between studies and especially between comparisons within studies — related
- Effect sizes across shared text reading studies show substantial true heterogeneity (I2 = 80.09) — related
- Effect sizes across studies show substantial heterogeneity, with wide prediction intervals spanning large negative to large positive true effects — related
- Effect sizes for gender differences in L2 achievement are highly heterogeneous across studies (I² = 89.82%) — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
games-stem-substantial-heterogeneity-prediction-intervals |
title |
Effects of game-based learning in STEM education vary substantially across studies, with prediction intervals spanning trivial-to-negative through very strong effects |
description |
Effects of game-based learning in STEM education vary substantially across studies, with prediction intervals spanning trivial-to-negative through very strong effects |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2023 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — michaela-arztmann-2023 |
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