The interactivity of video and collaboration for learning achievement, intrinsic motivation, cognitive load, and behavior patterns in a digital game-based learning environment

This study investigated how the use of an instructional video and collaboration influenced the learning achievement, intrinsic motivation, cognitive load, and learning behaviors of students learning Newtonian mechanics within a digital game-based learning (DGBL) environment. The participants were 109 seventh-grade students who were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups, forming a 2 × 2 factorial design, with the presence or absence of an instructional video as one factor and collaboration as the other. With regard to learning achievement, the findings revealed a significant main interaction effect between the use of an instructional video and collaboration. While collaborative DGBL promoted intrinsic motivation, the results for cognitive load showed that the use of an instructional video in collaborative DGBL significantly reduced both intrinsic and extraneous cognitive loads. The implications for designing game-based science learning are discussed.