Using Video Game Design to Motivate Students - The Mission Evolution Project

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley

The study examines how level-based video game development in an out-of-school time (OST) setting can support science learning motivation. It describes Mission Evolution, an afterschool partnership where students collaborated with teachers and university experts to play Spore Galactic Adventures and design their own missions with multiple acts, species antagonists, and customizable features. The project is guided by the MUSIC Model of Motivation (eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, Caring) and aims to foster engagement in science through learner-centered game design.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Using Video Game Design to Motivate Students

The Mission Evolution Project

Motivation Frameworks

Using Video Game Design to Motivate Students Michael A. Evans, Brett D. Jones, and Sehmuz Akalin Because video games are so popular with young people, researchers have explored ways to use game play to engage students in school subjects (Peppler & Kafai, 2007; Rockwell & Kee, 2011; Small, 2011) . Motivating students in science is especially important because of declines both in the number of young people who choose science careers and in the number of adults who have a sufficient grasp of science to make thoughtful decisions (Bell, Lewenstein, Shouse, & Feder, 2009) . To counter these trends, informal science educators have adopted video games and simulations as teaching tools and have called for research on how games can motivate youth to engage with science (Honey & Hilton, 2011) . Video games that provide level-building capabilities (Reiber, 2005) can be particularly useful in fostering informal science learning. To add to the knowledge base, we studied how students used level-based video game development in anout-of-school time (OST) setting to learn science content. Building on prior efforts (Evans & Biedler, 2012; Evans, Norton, Chang, Deater-Deckard, & Balci, 2013; Evans, Pruett, Chang, & Nino, 2014), we explored how the project incorporated the video game to support learners’ science motivation. This work with a commercial MICHAEL A. EVANS is an associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences at NC State University. Heresearches the effects of video games and other popular digital media on youth learning and engagement, with a focus on academic relevance. BRETT D. JONES is a professor in the Educational Psychology program in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. He researches student motivation and examines strategies teachers can use to design instruction to support students’ motivation and learning. See www. [theMUSICmodel.com](theMUSICmodel.com). SEHMUZ AKALIN is a doctoral candidate in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. off-the-shelf video game is an example of how a learnercentered, technology-infused approach can advance the theory and practice of informal science learning (Honey & Hilton, 2011) . The Mission Evolution Project Mission Evolution was designed as an afterschool partnership between investigators at a large research university and staff at a nearby high school in rural southwest Virginia. Students collaborated with their science teacher and university instructional and video game design experts to play Spore Galactic Adventures™ (SGA) . SGA, an expansion pack of the video game Spore,™ was selected for this project because it allows students not only to play the game but also to design their own game levels. In its simplest form, a game level, or mission, comprises a start state, an end state or goal, and obstacles presented asa series of acts that prevent players from reaching the goal. Using the level builder, players can design a mission that has up to eight acts, in which the “captain” (or protagonist) and crew members encounter challenges that may require socializing with or fighting against up to 10 species of antagonists. Antagonists can be generated by the player or downloaded from Sporepedia, an online warehouse of characters and items such as dwellings and weapons. Players can select features such as dialogue, physical appearance, atmosphere, protagonists, rewards, and music. lishing their own goals and monitoring their own progress with minimal, yet supportive, guidance. We anticipated that this project would motivate students to learn science and participate in science-related activities. Motivation Frameworks The design and study of Mission Evolution were guided by the principles of the MUSIC® Model of Motivation (Jones, 2009, 2015) . We chose the MUSIC model because it applies current motivation research and theories to educational settings and provides a means to assess the effect of instruction on students’ motiva

FAQs

Why are video games considered useful for motivating students in science?

Researchers have explored game play to engage students with school subjects. Informal educators also adopted games and simulations and called for research on how games motivate youth to engage with science.

What is Mission Evolution and how did students participate?

Mission Evolution was an afterschool partnership between university investigators and a rural high school. Students played Spore Galactic Adventures and used its level builder to design their own mission levels aligned with science goals.

How does the MUSIC Model guide the design and evaluation of the project?

The project follows the MUSIC Model of Motivation, which includes eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring. It aims to ensure students make decisions, see relevance, believe they can succeed, stay interested, and feel cared for by the learning environment.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley