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Abstract: Educational games, while widely used to enhance engagement and motivation, often struggle to balance instructional content with compelling gameplay. Although integrating learning and gameplay within a unified structure is theoretically effective, it presents practical challenges in achieving both high engagement and instructional impact. To address this, the current study introduces an intertwined Multilayered Educational Game - Computer-based Framework (iMEG C-Framework) and an ACT-R cognitive model to simulate the recall process. These models will be evaluated across three instructional conditions (Traditional Learning, Classic Educational Game, and iMEG) targeting K-12 students in both shortand long-term memory tasks. Cognitive modeling is particularly valuable in K-12 contexts where large-scale studies are often difficult. The iMEG framework separates game mechanics, instructional content, and feedback to create a more adaptive and organized learning experience. ACT-R modeling supports analysis of how students encode, store, and retrieve key concepts, enabling real-time adaptive feedback and instructional refinement. A within-subjects experiment will be conducted with 39 seventh-grade students across three counterbalanced conditions, each involving a 75-minute session on board game design, followed by retention assessments one and seven days later. By combining experimental data with ACT-R modeling, this study explores predictive capabilities and the impact of different game-based learning structures on student trajectories, contributing to the design of motivation-driven learning environments in K-12 education.
Keywords: ACT-R modelling, Game-Based learning, Motivation-Based learning, K-12 learning environments
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1. Introduction
Over the past two decades, game-based learning has gained recognition as a strategy to enhance motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes in K-12 education (Boyle et al., 2016). Well-designed games can foster deeper understanding and persistence, especially among students who struggle in traditional settings (Plass et al., 2015). However, many still fail to produce measurable academic gains. A key issue is the blending of entertainment and instructional goals, which can lead to cognitive overload or superficial engagement (Parthasarathy & Mittal, 2023). This is further complicated by a disconnect between educators and designers. Educators may lack technical skills to build interactive systems, while developers may lack pedagogical knowledge (Roungas, 2015). As a result, many games remain ineffective or impractical for classroom use.
To be more specific about the learning processes involved in game-based learning, it is important to recognize that understanding how games influence...