Game-Based Learning: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Game-Based Learning (GBL) represents a promising methodology to motivate and engage students in their learning process. By using games or video games, GBL facilitates active learning and promotes high levels of student interactivity during the learning process. Despite the increasing interest in GBL in an educational context there is a scarcity of bibliometric studies analyzing how this interest translates into the academic literature. This study aims to address this research gap running a bibliometric analysis on a sample of articles published during the last five years (2010-2014) on GBL and two related constructs: Serious Games, and Gamification. By analyzing a five year sample (2010-2014) of articles on the topic published in top Education journals this research identified relevant researchers on the topic, main constructs and methodology used in the research, and research gaps that can be used to conduct future research on the topic.