Enhancing financial literacy education through game-based learning: The impact of integrating handwritten concept mapping

Many studies have integrated concept mapping mechanisms into Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL), showing the potential for helping students memorize knowledge and grasp complex concepts during gaming. While DGBL approaches with concept maps have promising outcomes, their effectiveness depends on proper integration within instructional and game design. Consequently, this study proposed a DGBL system incorporating distinct mapping mechanisms to assess their efficacy in enhancing financial literacy education. A trial experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of employing different concept mapping mechanisms on students’ learning outcomes, motivation, and self-efficacy. Firstly, the experimental results regarding learning outcomes revealed that the DGBL system with handwriting concept maps produced the most beneficial students’ learning outcomes than those a who used the other two methods. Secondly, the experimental results of self-efficacy demonstrated that the DGBL system with handwriting concept maps leads to more positive self-efficacy perceptions among students in comparison to other methods. Lastly, the experimental results of learning motivation showed that the DGBL system with handwriting concept maps outperformed the other groups. Our findings also suggested that while the DGBL system could indeed stimulate students’ curiosity and motivation, the approach of utilizing handwriting concept maps for learning facilitated a heightened focus and improved cognitive processing capabilities during the process of concept mapping. As a result, this approach fostered a more pronounced sense of the learning content’s significance for the students.