Fostering pre-service teachers’ classroom management in an inclusive classroom: How effective are serious educational games?

This quasi-experimental study addresses the importance of effective teacher education in the digital age by exploring the potential of serious educational games (SEGs) to foster pre-service teachers’ classroom management competencies in inclusive classrooms: knowledge about classroom management, attitudes toward the benefits of inclusive education, and teaching motivation. We developed 19 SEG scenarios set in an inclusive fourth-grade classroom and administered them to 193 pre-service teachers in university courses. Latent change score models revealed a benefit for participants in the intervention group regarding one facet of (self-perceived) knowledge about classroom management. The findings provide guidance for the development of SEGs in teacher education and propose implications for exploring factors that may influence the effectiveness of those games. • Evaluation of a theory-driven SEG simulating classroom management in an inclusive fourth-grade classroom. • Pre-service teachers using SEG reported higher procedural knowledge gains. • No effects from the SEG on pre-service teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education and intrinsic motivation. • Immediate effects of the SEG and potential of increasing intervention intensity should be investigated.