Scientific Inquiry SelfEfficacy and Computer Game

Authors: Bradley W Bergey Diane Jass Ketelhut Senfeng Liang Uma Natarajan Melissa Karakus

Publish Date: 2015/03/26

Volume: 24, Issue: 5, Pages: 696-708

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Abstract

The primary aim of the study was to examine whether performance on a science assessment in an immersive virtual environment was associated with changes in scientific inquiry selfefficacy A secondary aim of the study was to examine whether performance on the science assessment was equitable for students with different levels of computer game selfefficacy including whether gender differences were observed We examined 407 middle school students’ scientific inquiry selfefficacy and computer game selfefficacy before and after completing a computer gamelike assessment about a science mystery Results from path analyses indicated that prior scientific inquiry selfefficacy predicted achievement on endofmodule questions which in turn predicted change in scientific inquiry selfefficacy By contrast computer game selfefficacy was neither predictive of nor predicted by performance on the science assessment While boys had higher computer game selfefficacy compared to girls multigroup analyses suggested only minor gender differences in how efficacy beliefs related to performance Implications for assessments with virtual environments and future design and research are discussedWe acknowledge the contributions of Brian Nelson Catherine Schifter Martha Caray Mandy Kirchgessner Chris Teufel Angela Shelton and other SAVE Science team members for their contributions to the larger project of which this study is a part We also are grateful to Jennifer Cromley and anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback on previous versions of this manuscript This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No 0822308

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