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Digital learning games can help address gender disparities in math by promoting better learning experiences and outcomes for girls. However, there is a need for more research to understand why some digital learning games might be especially effective for girls studying mathematics. In this study, we assess two possible pathways: that girls might benefit from math games because they reduce the anxiety and evaluation apprehension that girls are more likely to experience when doing math; and that girls might benefit from math games when they enjoy the narrative and thus experience greater engagement. To evaluate these pathways, our work uses multiple dimensions of gender (e.g., gender identity and gender-typed interests, activities, and traits) and surveys of affective experiences to examine the impact of three learning systems with identical learning content: a digital learning game, Decimal Point, that has consistently led to better learning for girls over boys; a new masculine-typed game, Ocean Adventure, developed based on a survey of over 300 students; and a conventional tutoring system. We predicted that girls and students with stronger feminine-typed characteristics would experience less math anxiety in both Decimal Point and Ocean Adventure compared to the tutor. We also predicted that girls and students with stronger feminine-typed characteristics would experience greater engagement and learning with Decimal Point while boys and students with stronger masculine-typed characteristics would experience greater engagement and learning with Ocean Adventure. Consistent with predictions, students with stronger feminine-typed characteristics experienced less anxiety and evaluation apprehension in both games compared to the tutor. This suggests that math learning games may provide a way to address these negative affective experiences. In terms of our measures of engagement, we found that students with stronger masculine-typed characteristics reported greater experience of mastery in the masculine Ocean Adventure; however, this was the only indicator that the more masculine narrative of Ocean Adventure led to different experiences based on gender. This suggests that narrative alone may not have a strong enough effect on students based on gender, especially when other game features are kept constant. Contrary to our predictions, there were no effects of gender identity or condition on learning outcomes, although both masculine-typed and feminine-typed characteristics were negatively associated with learning. Overall, these results point to the value of a multi-dimensional model of gender in assessing learning with a game, the important role learning games can have in reducing math anxiety and evaluation apprehension for girls and students with feminine-typed characteristics, and the nuanced effects of game narratives on experiences with game-based learning. 

Prompted self-explanation, in which learners are induced to explain how they have solved problems, is a powerful instructional technique. Self-explanation can be prompted within learning technology by asking learners to construct their own self-explanations or select explanations from a menu. The menu-based approach has led to the best learning outcomes in the relatively few cases it has been studied in the context of digital learning games, contrary to some self-explanation theory. In a classroom study of 214 5th and 6th graders, in which the students played a digital learning game, we compared three forms of prompted self-explanation: menu-based, scaffolded, and focused (i.e., open-ended text entry, but with a focused prompt). Students in the focused condition learned more than students in the menu-based condition at delayed posttest, with no other learning differences between the conditions. This suggests that focused self-explanations may be especially beneficial for retention and deeper knowledge. 

Mindfulness has been shown in prior studies to be an effective device to help students develop self-regulatory skills, including executive functions. However, these effects have been rarely tested at scale in technology-assisted learning systems such as digital learning games. In this work, we investigate the effects of mindfulness in the context of playing and learning with Decimal Point, a digital learning game for mathematics. We conducted a study with 5th and 6th grade students in which three conditions were compared - the game with short mindfulness meditations integrated, the game with similar-length, age-appropriate stories integrated, and the game in its original form. From the study results, we found no differences in time spent on the game, error rates while playing, or learning outcomes across the three conditions. Embedding mindfulness prompts within the game did not enhance learning or change students’ gameplay behaviors, which suggests that we may not have successfully induced a state of mindfulness or that mindfulness is not beneficial for learning within digital learning games. We discuss the challenges of incorporating individual mindfulness meditations in elementary and middle school classrooms. 

There is an established gender gap in middle school math education, where female students report higher anxiety and lower engagement, which negatively impact their performance and even long-term career choices. This work investigates the role of digital learning games in addressing this issue by studying Decimal Point, a math game that teaches decimal numbers and operations to 5th and 6th graders. Through data from four published studies of Decimal Point, involving 624 students in total, the authors identified a consistent gender difference that was replicated across all studies – male students tended to do better at pretest, while female students tended to learn more from the game. In addition, female students were more careful in answering self-explanation questions, which significantly mediated the relationship between gender and learning gains in two out of four studies. These findings show that learning games can be an effective tool for bridging the gender gap in middle school math education, which in turn contributes to the development of more personalized and inclusive learning platforms. 

There is an established gender gap in middle school math education, where female students report higher anxiety and lower engagement, which negatively impact their performance and even long-term career choices. This work investigates the role of digital learning games in addressing this issue by studying Decimal Point, a math game that teaches decimal numbers and operations to 5th and 6th graders. Through data from four published studies of Decimal Point, involving 624 students in total, the authors identified a consistent gender difference that was replicated across all studies – male students tended to do better at pretest, while female students tended to learn more from the game. In addition, female students were more careful in answering self-explanation questions, which significantly mediated the relationship between gender and learning gains in two out of four studies. These findings show that learning games can be an effective tool for bridging the gender gap in middle school math education, which in turn contributes to the development of more personalized and inclusive learning platforms.