Do Skills and Challenge Affect Perceived Learning? Mediating Role of Engagement

Gamification, the usage of elements relating to game design to non-game activities, has gained considerable attention from academia and industry. It is uncertain as to whether students require skills and challenges to engage them in the game for enhancing their learning. Thus, the objective of this article is to examine the mediating role of engagement in the relationship between skill and perceived learning as well as between challenge and perceived learning in game-based learning environments. Data was gathered using a survey of Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) players. A total of 233 young Indian players participated in the study. The results showed that engagement fully mediates the relationship between skill and perceived learning as well as between challenge and perceived learning. This study contributes to the literature on game-based learning by providing evidence for the educational video games to be one of the effective means of learning. Results of the present study imply that the educational game designers can design challenging games to engage the students.