Cognitive and metacognitive support in learning with a serious game about demographic change

The goal of this experiment was to investigate the impact of metacognitive training, and metacognitive and cognitive prompting, in a game-based simulation related to demographic change. The work here is based on supporting learning with serious games by scaffolding students’ self-regulated learning by fostering metacognition in constructivist learning environments. The impact of metacognitive training, and/or cognitive and metacognitive prompting, on learning outcomes and cognitive load was analyzed. A pre- and post-test assessing knowledge acquisition, metacognitive behavior, and cognitive load were applied. The learning environment was a game-based simulation of a small village that was confronted with different problems related to demographic change. Learners were tasked with developing sustainable solutions to keep the village prospering. With regard to knowledge acquisition, metacognitive and cognitive prompting proved effective, while direct metacognitive training only had a minor effect. The expected interaction effect did not turn out to be statistically significant, nor did the results show a reduction of cognitive load through direct or indirect metacognitive and cognitive support. Taken together, outcomes suggest here that game-based learning with simulations can be supported by direct and indirect metacognitive and cognitive support.