Impact of pre-service teachers’ gaming behaviours on their confidence and competence in applying game-based learning approaches: implications for teacher educators

Despite the increased popularity of Game-based Learning (GBL), there is still a lack
of empirical evidence supporting GBL as an approach and the need for ongoing research is
widely advocated (Hainey et al., 2016). In particular, the area of teacher education in GBL is
identified as an area of research that warrants increased attention. According to Foster, Shah &
Duvall (2015), teachers’ in-ability to use GBL is compounded by the lack of teacher education
or professional learning programmes that focus on developing teacher confidence and
competence in adopting GBL, particularly at the pre-service level. Accepting the belief that
pre-service teacher education has a strong influence on teachers’ use of technology in their
practice (Hammond et al, 2009), and acknowledging that a significant variable in teacher
acceptance and adoption of GBL in the classroom is the teacher’s own prior experience with
gaming (Becker and Jacobsen 2005); this research investigates how pre-service teachers’
gameplay behaviours influenced their confidence and competence towards using GBL. It also
examines the implications of pre-service teachers’ confidence and competence towards using
GBL approaches for teacher educators and the design of pre-service teacher education programs
in GBL.