21st-century skills require learners to master high-order thinking skills (HOTS). High-order thinking is a cognitive process that involves a complex understanding of information beyond just memorizing and recalling. It covers complex problem-solving, critical thinking, creatively generating new information, and synthesizing it. Traditional methods are known to induce test anxiety and ignore the learner’s thinking processes. This low-order process of memorizing and understanding information is decontextualized and does not lead to deep knowledge. Student assessment should not only be concerned with what students know but rather what they can do with the knowledge they have acquired. These needed skills can be developed and improved through practical game-based learning models. Games ensure HOTS; however, it is not clear how they assess and evaluate learner performance to improve their HOTS. Initially, students were given a test before and after playing the game to gauge how much they knew before and after learning. To assess HOTS robust assessment mechanisms embedded within game applications measure performance throughout gameplay. Therefore, research is needed to explore how HOTS is measured in pedagogical games. The ability of games to quantify data for scoring cannot be doubted, however little is known particularly in the context of grading, results analysis, distribution, and implementation of assessment strategies. Empirical studies are still lacking to remedy the matter. This research reviewed Digital game-based learning assessment’s (DGBLA) capacity to assess and improve high-order thinking. Authoritative databases were analyzed and compared, and Web of Science, and Scopus emerged as best, giving 32 relevant studies. Findings revealed that game assessment structured through Bloom’s Taxonomy improves HOTS.

Author: Tefo Kgosietsile

Published in: International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions (ICITST-2023)

• Date of Conference: 13-15 November 2023
• DOI: 10.20533/ICITST.2023.0014
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-63-1
• Conference Location: St Anne’s College, Oxford University, UK