Connecting the dots: Understanding the interrelated impacts of type, quality and children's awareness of design features and the mathematics content learning goals in digital math games and related learning outcomes

This study focused on an examination of how type, quality and children's awareness of design features in digital math games, along with an awareness of the mathematics goals of the game, were related to learning outcomes. We conducted a parallel conversion mixed methods study with 45 students in Grades 3 and 4 (ages 9–10). Students participated in clinical interviews using three digital math games. The results suggest a moderated mediation relationship in which the quality of the design features moderated the mediating impact of children's awareness of the game's design features, specifically when the child was aware of the mathematics content learning goal (MCLG) of the game. These findings show how important it is that design features are of high quality in a digital math game, and how this is intertwined with children's awareness of the features and the MCLG. When these variables intertwined in just the right way, the interactions between the children and the digital math game afforded mathematical learning growth. Lay Description What is currently known about the subject matter Some game features, and the types of representations designed into the games, may have a greater impact than others. Some design features provide general learning support, and some provide specific mathematics support. There is a relationship between the subject (i.e., a child), the artefact (i.e., a digital math game) and the object (i.e., the mathematics). Understanding that relationship is complex because there are no clear‐cut variables that can be isolated; rather, these variables need to be considered together. What our paper adds to this subject matter Seven classifications of design feature types were coded in digital math games. Children's awareness of the mathematics content learning goal (MCLG) matters in conjunction with their awareness of the design features. High‐quality features, that are directly related to the MCLG, matter. The complex variable interactions help explain children's learning outcomes. Implications of study findings for practitioners Even if a child had an awareness of the MCLG and high feature awareness, if the movements (either physically or mentally) associated with those features were of low‐quality with respect to the MCLG, this did not afford growth. Understanding these relationships can help practitioners select high‐quality digital math games for children's use in both classroom settings and at home. Understanding these relationships can al