Evaluating Feasibility and Effectiveness of Digital Game-Based Instructional Technology

Higher education institutions encounter difficulties when the Covid-19 pandemic happens because learners cannot go to class and absorb knowledge directly. In Vietnam, universities have used online learning to help learners keep learning in this pandemic context. However, students and teaching staff have expressed concerns about the quality of the learning process. In this context, our research is looking for solutions to apply new technology in the teaching process to ensure the quality and effectiveness of learning. Among these new technologies, we consider digital games because most students play digital games and their positive effects on teaching, as evidenced by recent publications. Under the approach of technological process, our team evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of the digital game-based instructional technology at HUST. In terms of feasibility, research shows that most students agree that digital games can contribute to learning skills. In terms of effectiveness, there are three key findings. First, although male students play video games more than female students, the results show that both men and women have the same rate of digital games' effectiveness in learning. Second, there is no difference in assessing the effectiveness of digital games in learning between IT students and non-IT students although IT students are more exposed to technology. Third, there is a difference in the views of second-year students and third-year students. This difference illustrates the need for blended-learning courses that utilize digital games effectively for third-year engineering students who start more specialized engineering courses at universities.