Background. Middle school students’ math anxiety and low engagement have been major issues in math education. In order to reduce their anxiety and support their math learning, game-based learning (GBL) has been implemented. GBL research has underscored the role of social dynamics to facilitate a qualitative understanding of students’ knowledge. Whereas students’ peer interactions have been deemed a social dynamic, the relationships among peer interaction, task efficiency, and learning engagement were not well understood in previous empirical studies. Method. This mixed-method reseacrh implemented E-Rebuild, which is a 3D architecture game designed to promote students’ math problem-solving skills. We collected a total of 102 50-minutes gameplay sessions performed by 32 middle school students. Using video-captured and screen-recorded gameplaying sessions, we implemented behavior observations to measure students’ peer interaction efficiency, task efficiency, and learning engagement. We used association analyses, sequential analysis, and thematic analysis to explain how peer interaction promoted students’ task efficiency and learning engagement. Results. Students’ peer interactions were negatively related to task efficiency and learning engagement. There were also different gameplay patterns by students’ learning/task-relevant peer-interaction efficiency (PIE) level. Students in the low PIE group tended to progress through game tasks more efficiently than those in the high PIE group. The results of qualitative thematic analysis suggested that the students in the low PIE group showed more reflections on game-based mathematical problem solving, whereas those with high PIE experienced distractions during gameplay. Discussion. This study confirmed that students’ peer interactions without purposeful and knowledge-constructive collaborations led to their low task efficiency, as well as low learning engagement. The study finding shows further design implications: (1) providing in-game prompts to stimulate students’ math-related discussions and (2) developing collaboration contexts that legitimize students’ interpersonal knowledge exchanges with peers.

中文翻译：

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探索游戏式学习中中学生同伴互动、任务效率和学习参与之间的关系

背景。中学生的数学焦虑和低参与度一直是数学教育的主要问题。为了减轻他们的焦虑并支持他们的数学学习，我们实施了基于游戏的学习（GBL）。GBL 研究强调了社会动态在促进对学生知识的定性理解方面的作用。虽然学生的同伴互动被认为是一种社会动态，但以前的实证研究并未很好地理解同伴互动、任务效率和学习参与之间的关系。方法。这种混合方法研究实现了 E-Rebuild，这是一种 3D 建筑游戏，旨在提高学生的数学问题解决能力。我们总共收集了 32 名中学生进行的 102 次 50 分钟的游戏环节。使用视频捕获和屏幕录制的游戏会话，我们实施了行为观察来衡量学生的同伴互动效率、任务效率和学习参与度。我们使用关联分析、顺序分析和主题分析来解释同伴互动如何提高学生的任务效率和学习参与度。结果。学生的同伴互动与任务效率和学习参与度呈负相关。根据学生的学习/任务相关的同伴交互效率 (PIE) 水平，也存在不同的游戏模式。低 PIE 组的学生往往比高 PIE 组的学生更有效地完成游戏任务。定性主题分析的结果表明，低 PIE 组的学生对基于游戏的数学问题解决表现出更多的思考，而高 PIE 组的学生在游戏过程中会分心。讨论。这项研究证实，学生在没有有目的性和知识建设性合作的情况下进行同伴互动会导致他们的任务效率低下，学习参与度也低。研究结果显示了进一步的设计含义：(1) 提供游戏内提示以激发学生与数学相关的讨论；(2) 开发协作环境，使学生与同龄人的人际交往知识交流合法化。这项研究证实，学生在没有有目的性和知识建设性合作的情况下进行同伴互动会导致他们的任务效率低下，学习参与度也低。研究结果显示了进一步的设计含义：(1) 提供游戏内提示以激发学生与数学相关的讨论；(2) 开发协作环境，使学生与同龄人的人际交往知识交流合法化。这项研究证实，学生在没有有目的性和知识建设性合作的情况下进行同伴互动会导致他们的任务效率低下，学习参与度也低。研究结果显示了进一步的设计含义：(1) 提供游戏内提示以激发学生与数学相关的讨论；(2) 开发协作环境，使学生与同龄人的人际交往知识交流合法化。