ABSTRACT
Seeking a mode of gameful learning that would inform, motivate and engage first-year undergraduates in an introductory Hebrew Bible/Old Testament course, the researchers replaced 6 of 18 homework assignments with interactive fiction stories. In these stories, students imagined themselves accompanying two time-traveling researchers on their journeys into biblical stories and their historical backgrounds. Despite theoretical considerations and empirical results suggesting potential benefits from this approach, students’ responses on a survey instrument showed no statistically significant difference between the standard and experimental modes with respect to motivation and engagement but reflected a statistically significant difference in favor of the traditional homework with respect to learning.
