The Effect of Educational Computer Games on Students’ Academic Engagement and Academic Self-Efficacy
Keywords:
computer games, educational, academic engagement, academic self-efficacy, studentsAbstract
This study aimed to examine the effect of educational computer games on students’ academic engagement and academic self-efficacy. The present study was a quasi-experimental study conducted using a pretest–posttest design with a control group. Accordingly, the participants were assigned to two groups, namely the experimental and control groups. The experimental group received instruction through educational computer games, whereas the control group received no instruction. The study population included all students in the second cycle of secondary education. From among these students, 30 individuals were selected as the sample based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria using convenience sampling, and they were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The instruments used in the present study included the Academic Engagement Scale developed by Pintrich et al. (1991) and the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale developed by Jinks and Morgan (1999). Data analysis in the present study was conducted using SPSS version 26 at both descriptive and inferential levels. At the descriptive level, mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage indices were used, while at the inferential level, analysis of covariance was applied. The obtained F value was significant for both variables at the 0.05 level. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected, and the research hypothesis was confirmed. Considering the higher mean scores of the experimental group in the posttest phase for academic engagement and academic self-efficacy, it can be concluded that educational computer games have a significant effect on students’ academic engagement and academic self-efficacy. The results indicated that educational computer games have a significant effect on students’ academic engagement and academic self-efficacy.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Amirhossein Bozorgian, Reza Abbasi Bakhtiari, Aliakbar Abdollahi Dadkan, Zahra Zibaee (Author)
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