STUDENTS' TIME PERSPECTIVE AND ITS EFFECTS ON GAME BASED LEARNING

Previous research in face-to-face learning modality demonstrated that students' Time Perspective is related to motivation and learning performance. In concrete, results show students with a future oriented TP having higher motivation for learning, higher self-regulation and academic performance. By contrast, students' having a present oriented TP tend to engage in games and prefer instant reward activities. Despite the wide corpus of research on TP and learning, albeit Serious Games (SG) are widely used for professional development and lifelong learning, no studies have focused, up to our knowledge, on TP in GBL. The present study aims to explore this new field of research. We conducted a case study using the Serious Game MetaVals. Results of the experience show no significant differences in game performance among individuals with different TP. Furthermore, students with a future oriented TP foresee the future usefulness of the game compared to those focused on the present. These results might be useful for instructional designers and teachers, outlining the benefits, in terms of knowledge acquisition, of using GBL activities that could help different TP profiles to equally engage and better perform in the learning processes.