Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of adopting digital games in education: A mixed methods investigation

One hundred and one pre-service teachers were exposed to game examples, a series of questions, and teaching scenarios that required games. A mixed methods analysis revealed that they perceived educational and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) games as equally valuable to instruction, games should predominantly be implemented after a formal lesson, and limited instructional time was the main barrier to adopting games. Our findings uncovered the need for teacher preparation programs to inform pre-service teachers of the critical advantages of educational games, the variety of research-based game-adoption approaches, and the effective strategies to overcome barriers when incorporating games into instruction.