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Applying HOPSCOTCH as an exer-learning game in English lessons: Two

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DOI: 10.1007/s11423-013-9308-3
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Applying HOPSCOTCH as an exer-
learning game in English lessons: two
exploratory studies
Martina Lucht & Steffi Heidig
Educational Technology Research

and Development
A bi-monthly publication of
the Association for Educational
Communications & Technology
ISSN 1042-1629
Volume 61
Number 5
Education Tech Research Dev (2013)

61:767-792
DOI 10.1007/s11423-013-9308-3
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Education Tech Research Dev (2013) 61:767–792
DOI 10.1007/s11423-013-9308-3
DEVELOPMENT ARTICLE
Applying HOPSCOTCH as an exer-learning game

in English lessons: two exploratory studies
Martina Lucht • Steffi Heidig
Published online: 13 September 2013

Ó Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2013
Abstract This article describes HOPSCOTCH, a design concept for an exer-learning

game to engage elementary school children in learning. Exer-learning is a new genre of
digital learning games that combines playing and learning with physical activity (exercise).
HOPSCOTCH is a first design concept for exer-learning games that can be applied to
support the acquisition of factual knowledge. HOPSCOTCH is based on the popular
playground game in which a course is drawn on the pavement with numbers that indicate
the course to be hopped. In two exploratory studies at a German elementary school, we
investigated the potential of HOPSCOTCH to engage students, as well as to facilitate the
acquisition of factual knowledge (English vocabulary) and to improve the attitudes of
students towards learning English as a second language. The results of these studies
indicated that the students remembered and correctly spelled about the same number of
new vocabulary words after learning with HOPSCOTCH as they did after a teacher-centred
lesson. Importantly however, the students enjoyed playing this exer-learning game very
much and they reported better attitudes towards studying English after learning vocabulary
with HOPSCOTCH compared to a teacher-centred lesson. These encouraging first results
support the assumption that HOPSCOTCH as a design concept may have the potential to
actively engage players in learning activities leading to a virtuous circle of reduced low
level disruption and self-exclusion, increased assimilation of knowledge and greater
engagement in lessons to the benefit of the whole class, not just the better-motivated
individual. As such we suggest that exer-learning games could serve as additional class-
room control and teaching aids in schools.
Keywords Digital game-based learning Serious games Exercise Exer-learning

games HOPSCOTCH Teaching aid
M. Lucht
Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology, Ehrenbergstraße 31, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany
e-mail: martina.lucht@idmt.fraunhofer.de
S. Heidig (&)
Learning and Interactive Media, University of Erfurt, P.O. Box 900 221, 99105 Erfurt, Germany
e-mail: steffi.heidig@uni-erfurt.de
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768 M. Lucht, S. Heidig
Introduction
Recently, the potential of digital games to support learning has been increasingly discussed
(Brannigan and Owen 2006; Gee 2007a; Ritterfeld et al. 2009a). The underlying
assumption of game-based learning is that the incentives inherent in games can be used to
actively engage children and adults in learning activities, effectively fostering meaningful
learning (Dumbleton and Kirriemuir 2006; Goldstein et al. 2004). But how can playing and
learning be effectively combined? We introduce a new genre of digital learning games in
this paper that not only seeks to appropriately combine playing and learning, but also
introduces exercise as a principal component: Exer-learning games. Structuring a learning
game to include physical activities as a required component of game play may serve as one
possible link between playing and learning that can help make learning fun. In addition to
affective results, interdisciplinary research indicates that exercise itself may positively
affect cognitive performance.
As a first game concept for exer-learning games, we introduce HOPSCOTCH, based on
the popular children’s game in which numbered squares must be hopped in a given
sequence. HOPSCOTCH, as an exer-learning game design concept, requires the learner to
enter answers to simple questions, such as translating a German word into English, by
jumping on a sensor pad. It therefore aims at the joyful and physically active acquisition of
factual knowledge (Lucht et al. 2010). As a first application of the HOPSCOTCH design
concept, we developed an English vocabulary game for elementary school children and
implemented it in English lessons at a German elementary school. We investigated the
potential of HOPSCOTCH to engage students and to facilitate learning in two exploratory
studies.
This paper, therefore, focuses on the description and a first application of the exer-
learning game design concept HOPSCOTCH. In order to provide a rationale for exer-
learning games in general and the design concept for HOPSCOTCH in particular, we start
by addressing the following questions: Why would games be applied for learning? How are
learning games currently applied in schools? What may be the benefit of using learning
games for the acquisition of factual knowledge? Finally, what may exercise contribute to
learning and cognitive performance?
We then provide a detailed description of the exer-learning game concept of HOP-
SCOTCH and discuss its potential as a game-based learning approach. Finally, we report
the results of two exploratory studies in which a HOPSCOTCH-based vocabulary game
was applied in English classes at a German elementary school. These studies were con-
ducted in order to explore the potential of a HOPSCOTCH exer-learning game for student
engagement and learning.
Games and learning
Computer and video games sales in the United States in 2012 amounted to $14.8 billion
(ESA 2012). Computer and video games are played in 67 % of North American house-
holds (ESA 2010); one-third of the gamers are children and adolescents under the age of
18. Ninety per cent of parents surveyed said that their top reason for playing video games
with their children was that it was fun for the entire family (ESA 2012). Games, therefore,
have an enormous potential to engage players.
The terms ‘‘serious games’’, ‘‘game-based learning’’ and ‘‘digital educational games’’—
widely used synonymously—mark the initiative to use the potential of digital games to
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actively engage players for learning (e.g. Brannigan and Owen 2006; Gee 2007a; Ritterfeld
et al. 2009a). The primary goal of game-based learning, however, is not to provide an
opportunity for enjoyable play, but to foster an increase in intrinsic motivation and
knowledge acquisition (Dumbleton and Kirriemuir 2006; Goldstein et al. 2004). Intrinsic
motivation arises from activity-specific incentives that are inherent in games, but not
necessarily in learning activities (Vorderer et al. 2006). Learning activities are often
performed to achieve certain external goals (to get good marks, to pass an exam, etc.),
while game activities are focused more on fun and flow experiences (Csikszentmihalyi
1990; Malone 1980). Game-based learning tries to create intrinsically motivating learning
experiences through integrated game activities that offer activity-specific incentives.
Further, digital learning games afford continuous and immediate feedback to the learner
that can be used as progressional reinforcement (Oerter 1993). This feedback serves to
indicate to the learner the correctness of answers and/or to motivate the learner to persist
and succeed or, having achieved one game objective, to explore a subject area in more
depth and breadth.
Game-based learning in the classroom
One approach to using games for learning is the application of popular commercial off-the-
shelf games, such as ‘‘Sims’’, ‘‘Civilization’’ or ‘‘Knights of Honor’’, in schools (e.g.
Kirriemuir 2002; McFarlane et al. 2002; Sandford et al. 2006; Squire 2005). This approach,
however, requires advanced hardware equipment in the schools (e.g. appropriate graphic
cards), a certain level of computer literacy of teachers and learners, and extended time
periods for play that may conflict with the organization of a school day. Perhaps most
importantly, the possible learning outcomes of off-the-shelf games often do not correspond
with the curriculum (Sandford et al. 2006).
Several studies have been conducted on digital educational games as instructional tools
in schools, but most of them were not integrated into school lessons (e.g. Amory et al.
1999; Betz 1995; Illanas et al. 2008; Malouf 1988; McDonald and Hannafin 2003; Pa-
pastergiou 2009). Recently, there have also been attempts to integrate educational games
with school lessons. Examples include the online multi-user virtual environment ‘‘Any-
town’’ (Warren et al. 2009), a computer game about the world’s continents and countries
(Tüzün et al. 2009), or the computer game ‘‘Quest Atlantis’’ (Anderson 2008).
Game-based learning for the acquisition of factual knowledge
The focus of recent game-based learning initiatives has primarily been on the acquisition of
complex skills, such as process and strategic planning skills, and broader educational issues
(Gee 2007a, b; Kline 2004; Linderoth et al. 2004; Ritterfeld et al. 2009a). Nevertheless, the
potential of digital learning games may lie not only in the development of complex skills,
but also in the acquisition of basic factual knowledge. We refer to factual knowledge as
one knowledge dimension of Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) revision of Bloom’s
taxonomy (Bloom et al. 1956). The concept of factual knowledge, therefore, comprises the
knowledge of terminology, details and elements, and can be distinguished from other
knowledge dimensions, such as conceptual, procedural and metacognitive knowledge. The
HOPSCOTCH exer-learning design concept primarily aims at the facilitation of recall and
recognition, the cognitive processes of knowledge retrieval from long-term memory.
Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) refer to this cognitive process dimension as ‘‘remember’’.
Here, digital learning games could be applied to provide part-task practice of recurrent
123
(routine) constituent skills that then enable the performance of higher order skills (for
corresponding instructional design approaches see: Gagné et al. 1992; van Merriënboer
et al. 2002). A basic body of factual knowledge to be learned in the case of second
language learning is vocabulary. It is widely accepted that an increase in vocabulary
enhances the natural acquisition of a second language (e.g. Barcroft 2004; Ellis 1995).
Vocabulary can be learned either implicitly, from contexts such as reading (e.g. Krashen
1989; Sternberg 1987), or explicitly, through repetition, associational learning strategies or
imagery mediation techniques (Ellis 1995). The repetition of vocabulary in terms of part-
task practice is, therefore, one effective strategy for learning new words in a second
language and strengthening them in order to reach high levels of automaticity. However,
repeating vocabulary (or multiplication tables or playing scales on musical instruments) is
a dull procedure for the learner (Barcroft 2004).
The idea of using learning machines, or later computers, to practice recurrent skills is as
old as H. Skinner’s first patent in 1866 and Herbert Aiken’s spelling machine in 1911.
Conceptually, they were based on Thorndike’s ‘‘law of effect’’ (cf. Niegemann et al. 2008).
Skinner (1958) developed the concept of programmed instruction based on his theory of
operant conditioning. However, though drill-and-practice programs can provide part-task
practice, they do not necessarily engage the learner, as they primarily afford simple
question and answer routines. Digital learning games, however, may have the potential to
make part-task practice of recurrent skills fun. In order to engage the learner, learning
games rely on an interesting game-concept that exceeds the idea of merely gaining bonus
points for correct answers. The unique feature of HOPSCOTCH as a game-concept is the
integration of exercise into the learning experience. Hence, we introduce exercise as a
possible design feature of digital learning games and propose exer-learning games as a new
genre for game-based learning.
Exercise and learning
What can exercise in an educational game contribute to learning? A positive relationship

between exercise and learning is assumed and reported from different scientific perspec-
tives. Physical activities are assumed to have a positive effect on concentration, memory,
learning, and academic success in general (e.g. Hillman et al. 2008; Reynolds and Nicolson
2007; Sibley and Etnier 2003; van Praag 2009). A number of potential explanations are
proposed in the literature as to why physical activities may facilitate cognitive perfor-
mance. It is argued on a physiological level that physical activities increase the cerebral
blood flow, and improve arousal and attention levels (cf. Hillman et al. 2009; Reynolds and
Nicolson 2007; Sibley and Etnier 2003). More specifically, exercise is assumed to benefit
selective aspects of brain function such as neuronal growth, baseline electrocortical
function, cell proliferation, and cell survival (Hillman et al. 2008). On an affective level,
physical exercise may positively affect self-efficacy and self-esteem (Reynolds and Ni-
colson 2007). Finally, it is argued from a developmental perspective (based on Piaget) that
physical activities facilitate and may even be essential for cognitive development, espe-
cially in very young children (Sibley and Etnier 2003).
Physical activities and cognitive performance
Although research findings on the relationship between physical activities and cognitive
performance overall have been mixed, a meta-analysis including 1,260 effect sizes from
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134 studies yielded a positive relationship with an effect size of 0.25 (Etnier et al. 1997). A
subsequent meta-analysis on exercise and cognition in children (aged 4–18; Sibley and
Etnier 2003) confirmed the assumed positive relationship between physical activity and
cognitive functioning with an overall effect size of 0.32 (SD = 0.27). Middle school
students (aged 11–13) and early elementary school students (aged 4–7) showed the most
benefit from physical activities. The positive relationship between exercise and cognition
was further found across different types of physical activities, such as physical education
programs, aerobic exercise and perceptual-motor training, and for all categories of cog-
nitive assessment (perceptual skills, achievement, verbal and math tests, intelligence
quotient, developmental level/academic readiness, creativity, concentration) except for
memory tasks. However, it must be noted that true experimental designs among these
studies are scarce (cf. Sibley and Etnier 2003).
Physical fitness and cognitive performance
Correlational studies indicate that physical fitness is positively related to academic

achievements and cognitive performance. In a major fitness project funded by the Cali-
fornian Department of Education, Grissom (2005) found a positive correlation between
overall fitness scores and mean achievement scores (FitnessgramÒ, sample size = 884,715
students). Chomitz et al. (2008) arrived at similar results in Massachusetts, reporting that
‘‘the odds of passing both the Mathematics test and the English test increased as the
number of fitness tests passed increased’’. Large-scale studies in schools have indicated
that an increase in time spent in physical education classes did not impair academic
performance. In fact, three out of four large-scale studies reported significant improve-
ments in academic performance when the time spent in physical education classes was
increased (Dwyer et al. 1983; Sallis et al. 1999; Shepard 1997; Shepard et al. 1994; cf.
Sibley and Etnier 2003). Hillman et al. (2009) reported that aerobic fitness is related to
better cognitive performance and results in higher attention levels as more resources are
allocated to the task. While this is assumed to be a selective relationship in adult popu-
lations, the authors found a general relationship between aerobic fitness and cognition for
preadolescent children. Reynolds and Nicolson (2007) applied a six-month home-based
exercise program to children at risk of dyslexia, and found gains in working memory,
speech/language fluency, phonology, and motor skills, as well as a reduction of symptoms
of inattention that was maintained over 18 months after the intervention.
Acute physical activities and cognitive performance
The above-mentioned studies mainly focus on the long-term benefits of physical activities,
while exer-learning games allow for and facilitate more short-term acute physical activi-
ties. The meta-analyses by Sibley and Etnier (2003) also included some studies that
investigated acute physical activities, such as 20 min of treadmill running (Zervas et al.
1991), 15 min of stretching and walking (Caterino and Polak 1999), and 10 min of circuit
training or physical games (Skolnick 1980; cf. Sibley and Etnier 2003). These studies
yielded an effect size of 0.37 (SD = 0.43), indicating that acute physical activities likely
resulted in better cognitive performance. For vocabulary learning in particular, Winter
et al. (2007) reported better results on vocabulary tests immediately after intense running.
They used associative learning of a novel word and visually presented daily objects as a
vocabulary learning task (cf. Breitenstein and Knecht 2002; Winter et al. 2007).
123
Moreover, two recent studies from a neuroscientific perspective report some differen-
tiated effects of acute bouts of exercise on cognition. Budde et al. (2008) report better
performance on the d2-test (assessing concentration and attention) after 10 min of coor-
dinative exercise compared to after a normal sports lesson (10 min of exercise without any
specific coordinative request). The authors argue that the coordinative exercise pre-acti-
vated parts of the brain that have mediating functions, such as attention. In another study,
Davranche and McMorris (2009) report better performance when a cognitive task is per-
formed simultaneously with exercise (cycling).
Interim conclusion
In summary, research results from physical education, neuroscience and psychology lar-
gely support a positive relationship between physical activity and cognitive functioning.
Long term studies showed positive effects between fitness and cognition. There is also
some evidence that acute physical activities in particular may facilitate cognitive functions.
All these results are measures of exercise outside the learning process. Studies where
cognitive tasks are performed simultaneously with exercise report better performance on
concentration and attention. We therefore introduce exercise as a design feature into
learning games, proposing a new genre of digital learning games where exercise is per-
formed during the learning process: Exer-learning games. We further provide with
HOPSCOTCH a concrete example of a design concept in order to combine playing,
learning and exercise.
HOPSCOTCH: a design concept for exer-learning games
Idea and concept of HOPSCOTCH
Hopscotch is a children’s game where the challenge is to hop on a series of numbered

squares in the sequence of their numbers. The course is drawn with chalk on a pavement
(see Fig. 1). It is one of the world’s most popular outdoor games for children, often played
in the schoolyard. The idea of the children’s game of ‘‘hopscotch’’ has been adopted for the
design concept, HOPSCOTCH, to create exer-learning games that can be applied for
different learning tasks.
Input device
The concept of HOPSCOTCH was developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media
Technology (IDMT), Germany. Instead of drawing numbered squares on the pavement, a
dance pad with nine sensor fields is provided as an input device. The nine sensor fields
resemble the keyboard of a mobile phone with numbers and letters for writing short
messages [as used in the Short Message Service (SMS); see Fig. 2]. The sensor fields are
multidimensional in the sense that tapping on a field once, twice or three times gives a
different letter (e.g. A, B or C when tapping on the field ‘‘2’’). The dance pad can,
therefore, be used as an input device for letters and numbers by single or multiple taps on a
certain field. These letters can then be arranged into words by jumping another pattern for
the second letter and so on. Different sounds for each field allow the players to tap
‘‘blindly’’, since every tap/input is accompanied by acoustical feedback. The overall size of
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HOPSCOTCH 773
Fig. 1 Playing field of the

children’s game, ‘‘Hopscotch’’
Fig. 2 Input device for the HOPSCOTCH exer-learning game
the sensor pad amounts to 2.82 9 2.82 ft, with each of the nine fields being 0.94 ft (about
11 in.) square.
Method of play
When playing the game, the player receives questions that are presented on a monitor, and
is asked to enter the solution by jumping on the sensor mat (see Fig. 3). The game presents
one question at a time. The player then receives game points as a function of the time taken
to enter the correct letters or numbers. The playing component of HOPSCOTCH is,
therefore, to move the body as quickly as possible on the sensor pad, touching the correct
fields in a given order.
In the case of a vocabulary game, the player may be asked, for example, to translate the
German word for plum into English. In addition to the question itself, the number of letters
to be entered is represented by dashes (e.g. _ _ _ _ for plum). The player now has to jump
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Fig. 3 Set-up of the

HOPSCOTCH exer-learning
game
the first letter of the correct answer, ‘‘p’’ by jumping on the field ‘‘7’’ once. If he or she tries
to enter an incorrect letter, the input is ignored by the game. After the correct first letter is
entered, the second letter can be jumped. In case the player still does not know the correct
solution, any input other than jumping on the field ‘‘5’’ (the field that contains the next
letter ‘‘l’’) is ignored. If the player jumps on the correct field ‘‘5’’, the according dash starts
to blink, indicating that the player has touched the right field and only has to find the right
letter out of three (j, k or l). As soon as the player enters the correct word, he or she is
rewarded by a short animation starring a comic kangaroo. High scores are presented to
stimulate the player’s motivation to practice in order to perform better. Practice, however,
is then the repetition of the vocabulary to be learned. While the learning tasks are often less
enjoyable add-ons in serious games (Ritterfeld and Weber 2006), in HOPSCOTCH they
are fully integrated, since they are the impulse to start playing.
Facilitation of the flow of the game
Pretests showed that ignoring wrong taps is the most efficient input method. The sensor
pads have to be very sensitive to allow for differences in body weight and strength: it
sometimes happens that when a pad is touched once by the student there is ‘‘bounce’’ and
the second letter is triggered and shown on the monitor. If every input (correct and
incorrect) is accepted by the game the players often had to tap two or three times through
the choice of letters (for example if an ‘a’ had to be typed and on what the player thought
was their first tap the ‘b’ was triggered, the player would have to do two more taps ‘c’ and
‘a’ to have the correct input). Wrong input that was made by accident (because the pad was
touched too hard or by mistake by the player) interrupted the flow of the game and irritated
the players. Furthermore, the procedure of ignoring wrong inputs and providing hints if the
correct field is touched is meant to avoid frustration if the player does not know the correct
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HOPSCOTCH 775
solution. It offers guidance to the player that may direct his or her cognitive processes and
therefore foster learning (Domagk et al. 2010). As the game points are a function of the
speed of input, a knowledgeable player still has the edge over a less knowledgeable player.
Playing modes and strategies
The players can use their hands and feet to enter numbers or letters: They can either tap or
jump on the sensor pad. Furthermore, HOPSCOTCH can be played in a single- and
multiplayer mode. In the multiplayer mode, the players can work in groups, either jumping
words one after the other with the hints of their team members, or jumping a word together
by jumping on one letter each in order to achieve a faster response time (higher score).
Applications
Up to now, the HOPSCOTCH concept has been applied for different learning contents
including math (multiplication table), history (historical dates, events and names) and
languages (English vocabulary, learning letters and numbers). The levels of difficulty can
be varied by either presenting hints (such as the dashes described for the vocabulary game)
or asking for a free input (not providing any hints for the length of the word to be entered).
Moreover, the high scores in the game can be based on the scores of either different players
(norm-referenced feedback) or on the current player showing his or her improvements
within the game (self-referenced feedback).
Potentials of HOPSCOTCH
The game concept, HOPSCOTCH, adapts a popular children’s game for a game-based
learning approach. Thereby, the learning task of memorizing basic factual knowledge is
fully integrated into the game play. It aims at using incentives inherent in games to provide
motivating and enjoyable part-task practice of recurrent tasks, such as vocabulary learning
for second language acquisition. By using the multidimensional sensor pad as the input
device, HOPSCOTCH further integrates exercise into the game-based learning process.
Adding exercise as a component of game-based learning is a new approach that may
facilitate the learner’s intrinsic motivation and engagement in the game. Additionally,
exercise has been shown to benefit cognitive performance (e.g. Sibley and Etnier 2003) and
may, therefore, facilitate learning.
One feature of digital learning games that has been showing great promise is their
interactivity (e.g. Ritterfeld et al. 2009b). Interactivity can be defined as a dynamic process
between a learner and a learning system that comprises six principal components: (a) The
features of the learning environment, (b) the learner’s behavioural and (c) (meta)cognitive
activities, (d) motivation and emotion, (e) learner characteristics, and (f) the learning
outcomes (Domagk et al. 2010). The exercise component of HOPSCOTCH emphasizes the
behavioural activities of the learner. While the behavioural activities of most learning
games are limited to clicking a mouse, entering letters on a keyboard or waving a con-
troller, HOPSCOTCH offers a physically much more active input behaviour—jumping on
a sensor mat. In addition to the assumed positive relationship between exercise and cog-
nition, this may also facilitate the process of memorization. In the case of writing down
vocabulary, the process of memorization is linked to graphomotoric processes (Rudlof
1986). Movements, such as dance steps, may fulfil a mnemonic function, acting as a kind
123
of crib (Stork 2003). Applying HOPSCOTCH offers linkages to complex physical

behaviour patterns and events during game play, since the exercise is included into the
learning process and not parallel to it as cited above (chapter physical fitness and cognitive
performance).
Restrictively, it can be argued that the required body movements may distract the
learner and impose an additional cognitive load. Due to the limited capacity of working
memory, the movements may then even hinder learning (e.g. Chandler and Sweller 1991).
The performance of the body movements, however, should become more and more
automated with increasing practice and, therefore, require less or even no additional
working memory resources (Schnotz and Kuerschner 2007). Cognitive load theory
(Chandler and Sweller 1991) represents an efficiency-based approach: learning as much as
possible in a given time without mental stress (Kalyuga 2007). This, however, is not the
primary scope of game-based learning. Here, learning is also considered in terms of
effectiveness rather than efficiency only. It aims at the creation of appealing learning
experiences using the enormous potential of games to engage players. While it is also
desirable that the players learn as much as possible in a certain time, there is another goal
for game-based learning: Learning while playing should be fun, thus motivating playing
more often and for longer periods, resulting in increased practice and, respectively,
learning time. In other words, a student who may resign after 5 min of required vocabulary
learning or mentally disengage during vocabulary training lessons, may deliberately play
HOPSCOTCH for an hour. Game-based learning may even help to change a dull proce-
dure, such as vocabulary learning, into something considered to be fun—changing the
attitude of the learner towards the activity, the subject or even learning in general. Finally,
in a classroom setting a pupil who is disengaged may become disruptive and thus reduce
the learning opportunities for other students. By using exer-games to increase engagement
in lessons, low-level disruptive behaviour can be reduced increasing learning opportunities
for the whole class.
Applying HOPSCOTCH in school lessons—two exploratory studies
In order to explore the potential of HOPSCOTCH for student engagement and learning, we
conducted two exploratory studies in which we applied a HOPSCOTCH exer-learning
game for vocabulary learning in second language acquisition. The interaction with the
exer-learning game was integrated into regular English lessons at school. As physical
activities are assumed to be most beneficial for middle school and early elementary school
children (Sibley and Etnier 2003), we conducted the studies in grades 3 and 4 of an
elementary school. Both studies aimed at the evaluation of HOPSCOTCH as an exer-
learning approach by assessing the reported engagement of the students, the attraction of
the game and the learning results that were compared to a teacher-centred lesson.
Exploratory study 1
In this study, we integrated a HOPSCOTCH vocabulary game into an English lesson in

grade 4 of an elementary school. Log-file analyses and an evaluation questionnaire were
applied to examine the usage and the acceptance of the exer-learning game. In order to
explore the potential of HOPSCOTCH to facilitate learning, we needed a criterion against
which to compare the performance after playing HOPSCOTCH. We therefore compared
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HOPSCOTCH 777
the performance of the students after a HOPSCOTCH lesson to their performance after a
‘‘traditional’’ teacher-centred English lesson where new vocabulary was taught.
Method
Participants and design
The participants were 55 students at a German elementary school (4th grade). The mean
age was 10.73 years (SD = 0.34). Three different classes took part in the experiment (4a:
n = 22, 4b: n = 19, 4c: n = 14). All three classes were taught by the same teacher.
Materials and procedure
In this study, the students had to learn 26 new English words on the theme ‘‘at school’’.
These words were visualized on a poster which included the English words and appropriate
pictures, as shown in Fig. 4.
The vocabulary was divided into two sets: 13 words were to be learned in a ‘‘traditional’’
teacher-centred English lesson, and the other 13 words were taught via HOPSCOTCH. The
words were randomly assigned to either the ‘‘teacher-centred’’ set or the ‘‘HOPSCOTCH’’
set. We further controlled the word length to ensure the comparability of the two different sets
of words to be learned. In the teacher-centred school lesson, the teacher introduced the 13
relevant words by pointing to the poster that was hanging on the wall or (if possible) by
showing them the actual object (e.g. window). Furthermore, the teacher spoke full English
sentences to put the relevant words into context. The teacher also provided memory hooks for
the students to help them to memorize the words. During the lesson, the students were asked to
come up to the front of the class and show given words on the poster. All the words were
written on the blackboard and the students had to copy them into their exercise books. They
were asked to repeat the words and then to write them down. After this lesson, the children
went to another room where four HOPSCOTCH sensor mats and monitors were set up. Here,
they learned the other 13 words that were not taught in the teacher-centred lesson. The same
poster with the 26 words was also hanging on the wall of this room. The students could use it as
a ‘‘cheat sheet’’ if they did not know the required word. Apart from the poster, the students
were not introduced to the new words or given additional hints. The teacher gave a short
introduction on the function and rules of HOPSCOTCH. Afterwards, the students played the
exer-learning game by entering the words through the sensor pad (for a screen shot, see
Fig. 5). HOPSCOTCH was applied in a multi-player mode. Hence, the students played in
teams, averaging four students on each mat. The students of each team took turns in playing.
The other members of the team were actively involved as they helped the player by prompting
the demanded word and its spelling. The teams did not compete against each other. They
rather tried to reach a high score. The high score reflected the shortest time taken by previous
players to input the given word. The players therefore received norm-referenced feedback as
the high scores presented were based on the performance of a reference group. Both the
teacher-centred lesson and the HOPSCOTCH lesson had a duration of 45 min.
A cued recall test was administered during the next English lesson 1 week later. The
students were presented with a paper and pencil test to investigate how many of the 26
words learned were remembered correctly. The test contained all 26 words that were
presented as pictures, and accompanying German words in randomized order. The pictures
in the test were the same as the ones on the poster during the lessons (see Fig. 4). The
students had to translate the words into English and write them down. They received one
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Fig. 4 Poster visualizing 26 words on the theme ‘‘At School’’ as presented in study 1
point for remembering the right word, and another point for correct spelling, resulting in a
scale from 0 to 26 for the 13 words learned in the teacher-centred lesson and the 13 words
learned in the HOPSCOTCH lesson, respectively.
In addition, the students answered an evaluation questionnaire with questions on their
opinion about different aspects of HOPSCOTCH, and about the best way to learn English
(see Table 1). Whether the students liked to learn with HOPSCOTCH was assessed on a
four-item scale (attraction of HOPSCOTCH, Cronbach’s a = 0.82). A second scale
assessed whether the students would prefer alternative methods of learning English, such
as learning with books, CDs or vocabulary books compared to playing HOPSCOTCH
(preference of alternatives, a = 0.75). Additionally, the usability and game characteristics
of HOPSCOTCH were assessed by the single items ‘‘The sensor mat is easy to use’’
(perceived usability), ‘‘The game became boring after a while’’ (perceived engagement),
and ‘‘I preferred to enter the words myself rather than watch the others do it’’ (desired
activity level).
Data analysis
The behaviour of the students during the HOPSCOTCH lesson was recorded via log-file
protocols. Based on the log-file data, we calculated indices for the total time that the exer-
learning game was played (learning time), the number of words that were entered during
this time (number of words entered) and how often the same word was repeated (number
of repetitions per word). Due to the fact that four sensor mats were used in each of the
three classes, these indices were calculated for each class (4a, 4b, 4c) averaging the four
mats and for the whole sample. Furthermore, indicators for the time taken to enter one
word, number of jumps per word and number of unnecessary jumps per word were
calculated.
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HOPSCOTCH 779
Fig. 5 Screenshot of the HOPSCOTCH vocabulary game as applied in the exploratory studies. Translation
of the text in the figure: ‘‘Please translate the following word into English!’’; ‘‘Blackboard’’
Table 1 Scales and items of the evaluation questionnaire

Evaluation questionnaire
Attraction of HOPSCOTCH [4 items, Cronbach’s a = .82 (study 1), a = .76 (study 2)]
I would like to continue learning with HOPSCOTCH
Learning with HOPSCOTCH was fun
I would like to play HOPSCOTCH during English lessons
It would be great if my teacher also liked HOPSCOTCH
Preference of Alternatives [3 items, Cronbach’s a = .75 (study 1), a = .72 (study 2)]
I would prefer learning English from a text book
I would prefer learning English by listening to CDs
I would prefer learning English with my vocabulary exercise book
Perceived usability
The sensor mat is easy to use
Perceived engagement
I got easily bored by the game
Desired activity level
I preferred to enter the words myself rather than watch the others do it
Results
Evaluation of HOPSCOTCH
First, we were interested in the students’ evaluation of HOPSCOTCH as an exer-learning

game. The medians, means and standard deviations for the evaluation measures are
reported in Table 2. Regarding the attraction of HOPSCOTCH, 78.2 % of the students
strongly agreed and 16.4 % agreed that learning with HOPSCOTCH was fun and that they
would like to continue learning vocabulary with HOPSCOTCH. Therefore, a total of
94.6 % of the students rated the attraction of HOPSCOTCH as high, compared to only
5.4 % of the students who reported a low attraction. Moreover, 88.6 % of the students
would not prefer alternative ways to learn English, such as books, CDs and vocabulary
books (56.3 % strongly disagreed, 29.2 % disagreed). The usability ratings indicated that
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most students perceived the sensor mats as easy to use (76.4 % strongly agreed, 12.7 %
agreed). Only 4 out of 55 students reported difficulties in the handling of the sensor mat.
Regarding the perceived engagement, none of the students stated that they got easily bored
with HOPSCOTCH. 83.6 % strongly agreed and 10.9 % agreed that did not get bored
while playing HOPSOTCH. Finally, considering the desired activity level, 81.9 % of the
students reported that they preferred an active role when playing HOPSCOTCH rather than
watching the others entering the words (65.5 % strongly agreed, 16.4 % agreed). Only
10.8 % indicated not to prefer an active role (7.2 % disagreed, 3.6 % strongly disagreed).
Log-file analyses
The learning time during which the students actively interacted with the exer-learning
game ranged from 31.3 to 33.6 min, as can be seen in Table 3. The variance of the learning
time within the classes is due to the fact that the time was calculated between the first and
the last jump on the sensor mat. As the students of one class played in four different groups
on four sensor mats, some different time patterns appeared. The number of words entered
amounted to 65 in class 4a, 56 in class 4b and 74 in class 4c, averaging 65 words for the
whole sample. Each of the 13 words to be learned was repeated five times on average.
The words to be entered had a length between 3 and 16 letters (e.g. map, pencil
sharpener; M = 6.46, SD = 3.56) with the number of jumps needed being 3–35. Overall,
the students took between 1.80 and 161.06 s to enter one word (M = 22.97, SD = 18.98).
They took between 3 and 95 jumps to enter one word (M = 19.73, SD = 12.91),
amounting to either none or up to 74 unnecessary jumps (M = 5.73, SD = 7.99).
Learning outcomes
Table 4 shows the means and standard deviations for both the cued recall test for the
teacher-centred lesson and the HOPSCOTCH lesson. A paired-sample t test was calculated
for the cued recall scores for the teacher-centred lesson and the HOPSCOTCH lesson in
order to investigate the learning results. It failed to show a significant difference between
the cued recall performance of the teacher-centred and the HOPSCOTCH lesson
Table 2 Medians, means, standard deviations, and frequencies for the evaluation measures in study 1
(N = 55)
Median M SD Frequency of ratings in %
Strongly Agree Dis- Strongly No

agree agree disagree response
Attraction of 1.00 1.24 0.46 78.2 16.4 5.4 0 0

HOPSCOTCH
Preference to 1.33 1.59 0.68 56.3 29.2 9.1 1.8 3.6
alternatives
Perceived usability 1.00 1.30 0.67 76.4 12.7 5.5 1.8 3.6
Perceived 1.00 1.12 0.32 83.6 10.9 0 0 5.5
engagement
Desired activity level 1.00 1.45 0.81 65.5 16.4 7.2 3.6 7.3
Potential scores ranged from 1 (high—strongly agree) to 4 (low—strongly disagree)
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HOPSCOTCH 781
Table 3 Means and standard deviations of the log-file-indices for the 4 HOPSCOTCH sensor mats used in
each of the three classes of study 1 (N = 55)
Learning time Number of words entered Number of repetitions per word
M SD M SD M SD
Class 4a 32.45 2.44 65.00 14.17 5.00 0.25

Class 4b 31.32 3.21 56.25 4.35 4.33 0.30
Class 4c 33.58 6.25 73.75 13.33 5.67 0.26
Total 32.45 4.00 65.00 12.81 5.00 0.27
Table 4 Mean scores and standard deviations for the cued recall test for the teacher-centred lesson and the
hopscotch lesson in study 1 (N = 55)
Teacher-centred lesson HOPSCOTCH lesson
M SD M SD
Learning outcomes
Cued recall 12.31 6.14 11.91 6.86
Potential scores ranged from 0 (low) to 26 (high)
[t(54) = 0.66, p = 0.51]. The students remembered and correctly spelled about the same
number of words after learning in a ‘‘traditional’’ setting and after interacting with the exer-
learning game HOPSCOTCH.
Discussion
In summary, the evaluation data indicate that the students responded very positively to the
introduction of HOPSCOTCH as a new approach to teach English vocabulary in a
classroom setting. The vast majority of the students rated the attraction of HOPSCOTCH
as high and would not prefer other alternatives for learning English (book, CD or
vocabulary book). Furthermore, usability ratings were high, indicating an easy use of the
sensor mat. As none of the students indicated to get easily bored with the game, HOP-
SCOTCH seems to have a high potential to engage the students. The desired activity level
ratings in the evaluation questionnaire indicate that the students liked the exercise com-
ponent of HOPSCOTCH. They preferred to actively play the game by entering the words
themselves compared to passively watching the others hop. The high number of words
entered in the given time, as reflected in the log-file data, also support the positive eval-
uation data and indicate that the students were engaged in the game.
After playing the exer-learning game for about half an hour to learn 13 new words, the
students performed equally well on cued recall tasks compared to after a teacher-centred
lesson where 13 new words were introduced. The high engagement in playing the game
that is reflected in the evaluation data did not, however, facilitate learning compared to a
teacher-centred lesson. Due to the setting of the study within school lessons, the students
had a limited amount of time to interact with the exer-learning game. According to the log-
file-protocols, each of the 13 vocabulary words to be learned was repeated between four
and six times. Considering the fact that repetition is a very important process for memo-
rization, a higher number of repetitions may be more beneficial and, therefore, facilitate
learning. Moreover, cued recall was the only indicator for learning in this study, and a
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more differentiated analysis would be preferable. Therefore, a second exploratory study

was set up to overcome these limitations.
Exploratory study 2
The second study was designed to further investigate the preliminary results of the first
study. The first goal of this study was to explore whether HOPSCOTCH lessons may
facilitate learning compared to teacher-centred lessons, when the number of repetitions per
word in the HOPSCOTCH lessons was increased. The time was set at 45 min per lesson
due to the school setting. We therefore lowered the number of words to be learned from 13
to 10 per lesson. This was to ensure that the students had time to repeat the words more
often with HOPSCOTCH, and to increase the possibility for each student to actively enter
the words to be learned. Additionally, we introduced recognition as another indicator for
learning in order to gain more differentiated results.
The second goal of pilot study 2 was to explore the potential of HOPSCOTCH to turn a
rather dull procedure, such as vocabulary learning, into an activity considered to be fun.
The evaluation results of the first study indicated that the students liked to learn with
HOPSCOTCH and were engaged in the activity. In the second study, however, we addi-
tionally examined whether introducing a HOPSCOTCH exer-learning game may positively
affect the students’ attitudes towards learning English. This approach further allows for
comparisons between the teacher-centred classroom setting and the HOPSCOTCH lesson.
Method
Participants and design
The participants were 58 students of a German elementary school (3rd grade). The mean
age was 9.58 years (SD = 0.26). Three different classes took part in the experiment (3a:
n = 20, 3b: n = 20, 3c: n = 18). The three classes were taught by the same teacher.
Procedure
The setup of the second study is the same as in the first study, with half of the words taught
in a ‘‘traditional’’ English lesson by a teacher, and the other half taught via HOPSCOTCH.
As the number of words to be learned was lowered to 20 in total, this amounted to 10 in the
teacher-centred lesson and 10 in the HOPSCOTCH lesson.
However, we used a different time pattern in the second study than in the first one. This
was due to the fact that the second study aimed at additionally comparing the attitudes
towards learning English after the teacher-centred lesson and the HOPSCOTCH lesson. In
contrast to study 1, the teacher-centred lesson was not immediately followed by the
HOPSCOTCH lesson. In this case, the students firstly learned 10 words in a teacher-
centred setting. Three days later, in the next English lesson, they had to solve a learning
test containing the 10 words learned, as well as answer a questionnaire on their attitudes
towards learning English. The week after, they learned the other 10 words via HOP-
SCOTCH. This was again followed by the learning test of these words and the attitudes-
scale in the English lesson 3 days later. The adapted time pattern allowed for the repeated
measurement of the students’ attitudes, firstly, after the teacher-centred lesson and, sec-
ondly, after the HOPSCOTCH lesson.
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HOPSCOTCH 783
Materials
As this study was conducted on a different class level (3rd rather than 4th grade), we used a
different set of vocabulary to be learned by the students. Here, the topic was ‘‘animals’’,
based on the poster in Fig. 6. The relevant poster was hanging on the wall of the classroom
both in the teacher-centred and the HOPSCOTCH lessons.
The paper-based materials included the same evaluation questionnaire used in study 1,
which consisted of the scales ‘‘attraction of HOPSCOTCH’’ (Cronbach’s a = 0.76) and
‘‘preference of alternatives’’ (Cronbach’s a = 0.72), as well as the items for perceived
usability, perceived engagement and desired activity level (see Table 1).
Each student’s attitude towards learning English was assessed by the items ‘‘I am
pleased to improve my English’’, ‘‘Learning English is fun’’ and ‘‘I like the English
language’’ (a = 0.74).
In contrast to the first study, the learning test contained two indicators for learning by
presenting five recognition and five cued recall items for each set of ten words. In the
recognition tasks, the students were asked to find the correct English vocabulary for five
animals that were presented as cartoon pictures taken from the poster in Fig. 2. They had to
choose the correct English words out of eleven words presented. They gained one point for
each correct selection, resulting in a scale from 0 to 5. In the cued recall tasks, the students had
to write the English vocabulary for five animals that were also depicted as cartoon characters
from the poster in Fig. 6. In a similar way to study 1, they gained one point for remembering
the right word and one point for the correct spelling, resulting in a scale from 0 to 10.
Data analysis
Log-file protocols were again used to record the behaviour of the students during the
HOPSCOTCH lesson. Based on the log-file data, we calculated the same indices as in
study 1.
Fig. 6 Poster visualizing the 20 words on the theme of ‘‘Animals’’ as presented in study 2
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Results
Evaluation of HOPSCOTCH
The medians, means, standard deviations, and frequencies of the evaluation measures are
shown in Table 5. Regarding the attraction of HOPSCOTCH, 88.0 % of the students
considered learning with HOPSCOTCH fun and would like to continue learning with the
exer-learning game (55.3 % strongly agreed, 32.7 % agreed). Six students disagreed with
continuing playing HOPSCOTCH during English lessons, and one student strongly dis-
agreed. The ratings concerning the preference of alternative ways to learning English
(books, CDs or vocabulary books) rather than playing HOPSCOTCH, showed a higher
heterogeneity. While nearly a third of the students reported to prefer books, CDs or
vocabulary books (29.3 %), the majority of the students disagreed to prefer alternative
ways to learning English rather than playing HOPSCOTCH. According to the usability
ratings, 75.9 % of the students considered HOPSCOTCH as easy to use (51.8 % strongly
agreed, 24.1 % agreed). Difficulties with handling the sensor mat were only reported by 5
out of 58 students. Furthermore, 79.4 % of the students were not bored while playing
HOPSCOTCH (72.5 % strongly disagreed, 6.9 % disagreed). They considered the per-
ceived engagement of HOPSCOTCH to be high. Ten out of 58 students, however, reported
getting easily bored with the exer-learning game. Similarly to that, 74.1 % of the students
reported a high desired activity level, indicating that they would prefer to jump themselves
compared to watching the others hop (56.9 % strongly agreed, 17.2 % agreed). Eleven
students reported not to prefer an active role when playing HOPSCOTCH (1.7 % dis-
agreed, 17.2 % strongly disagreed). Interestingly, 8 out of the 10 students who reported
getting easily bored with the exer-learning game, also indicated not to prefer an active role.
Based on the data, however, it cannot be decided whether they considered it to be boring
due to the fact that they did not take an active role, or whether they did not take an active
role because they thought it was boring. Whereas more negative ratings in engagement and
activity level mainly clustered from the same students, the picture for the attraction of
Hopscotch scale and the preference of alternatives scale is more heterogeneous. Only 4 out
of the 10 students who reported some boredom perceived the attraction of HOPSCOTCH
to be low and only 5 of these 10 students reported to rather prefer learning English from
Table 5 Medians, means, standard deviations, and frequencies for the evaluation measures in study 2
(N = 58)
Median M SD Frequency of ratings in %
Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly No

agree disagree response
Attraction of 1.25 1.51 0.68 55.3 32.7 8.6 1.7 1.7

HOPSCOTCH
Preference to 2.00 2.12 0.86 27.6 41.4 20.7 8.6 1.7
alternatives
Perceived usability 1.00 1.53 0.79 51.8 24.1 5.2 3.4 15.5
Perceived 1.00 1.57 1.09 72.5 6.9 3.4 13.8 3.4
engagement
Desired activity level 1.00 1.78 1.16 56.9 17.2 1.7 17.2 6.9
Potential scores ranged from 1 (high—strongly agree) to 4 (low—strongly disagree)
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HOPSCOTCH 785
books, CDs or vocabulary books. Further, these 10 students did not cluster in one of the
three classes that took part in the study.
Log-file analyses
The means and standard deviations of the log-file-indices in the three classes are shown in
Table 6. The learning time that the students actively played the exer-learning game ranged
from 28.0 to 36.1 min, averaging 31.1 min. The students entered between 66 and 93 words
within the learning time given, amounting to a mean number of 78 words per lesson. Each
of the 10 words was repeated 7.8 times on average. Therefore, the reduction of the number
of words to be learned from 13 in study 1, to 10 in study 2, indeed resulted in a higher
repetition rate per word in study 2 compared to study 1. Moreover, the higher number of
words entered in the given time may in part be due to reduced word length compared to
study 1. There, the words to be entered had a length between 3 and 16 letters (M = 6.46,
SD = 3.56), while the words in the second study had a length between 3 and 10 letters
(M = 5.18, SD = 2.03). In this study, the students took between 2.98 and 114.12 s to enter
one word (M = 20.41, SD = 13.96). They needed between 4 and 244 jumps for one word
(M = 17.63, SD = 14.34), whereas none or up to 232 of these jumps were unnecessary
(M = 6.95, SD = 13.39).
Learning outcomes
Table 7 shows the means and standard deviations for the recognition and the cued recall
test for both the teacher-centred lesson and the HOPSCOTCH lesson. Paired-sample t tests
were calculated for the recognition and the cued recall scores of both the teacher-centred
lesson and the HOPSCOTCH lesson. Significant differences were found on the recognition
tasks [t(53) = 2.89, p = 0.006, d = 0.46]. Contrary to our expectations, the students
recognized more words after the teacher-centred lesson than after the HOPSCOTCH les-
son. After the teacher-centred lesson, they were better able to choose the right English
translation for a given German word out of 11 English words presented.
Significant differences were also found on the cued recall tasks [t(53) = -2.63,
p = 0.011, d = 0.42]. In contrast to the recognition results, the students’ cued recall
performance was better after the HOPSCOTH lesson than after the teacher-centred lesson.
After playing HOPSCOTCH, the students were better able to translate a given German
word into English and to correctly spell it. When decomposing the scale into the indicators
‘‘remembering’’ (correct word regardless of spelling) and ‘‘spelling’’ (correct word in
correct spelling), the advantage of the HOPSCOTCH lesson can be shown on both
Table 6 Means and standard deviations of the log-file-indices for the 4 hopscotch sensor mats used in each
of the three classes of study 2 (N = 58)
Learning time in minutes Number of words entered Number of repetitions per word
M SD M SD M SD
Class 3a 28.85 0.27 66.75 3.30 6.68 0.24

Class 3b 28.00 1.89 75.00 8.83 7.50 0.17
Class 3c 36.11 0.94 92.50 10.76 9.25 0.17
Total 31.14 3.83 78.08 13.48 7.81 0.19
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Table 7 Mean scores and standard deviations for the recognition, the cued recall test and the attitudes
towards learning english for the teacher-centred lesson and the hopscotch lesson in study 2 (N = 58)
Teacher-centred lesson HOPSCOTCH lesson
M SD M SD
Recognition 4.81 0.44 4.57 0.60

Cued recall 7.65 2.39 8.57 1.99
Attitudes towards learning English 3.30 0.80 3.62 0.66
Potential scores ranged from 0 (low) to 5 (high) for recognition, from 0 (low) to 10 (high) for cued recall,
and from 1 (low) to 4 (high) for the attitudes scale
subscales [remembering: t(53) = -2.74, p = 0.008, d = 0.45; spelling: t(53) = -2.17,

p = 0.034, d = 0.36].
Attitudes
The means and standard deviations for the attitudes of the students after both the teacher-
centred lesson and the HOPSCOTCH lesson are shown in Table 7. Paired-sample t tests
were calculated in order to investigate the attitudes of the students towards learning
English. The results indicate significant differences after the teacher-centred lesson and the
HOPSCOTCH lesson [t(51) = -3.00, p = 0.004, d = 0.44]. After playing the HOP-
SCOTCH exer-learning game, the students considered learning English to be more fun and
better liked the English language than after the teacher-centred lesson.
Discussion
In summary, the evaluation data of the second study also indicated that the students
appreciated the introduction of the exer-learning game, HOPSCOTCH, as a new approach
to learning English vocabulary in school lessons. Most of the students liked to learn with
HOPSCOTCH and would like to play it in English lessons. The vast majority of the
students was not bored while playing HOPSCOTCH and enjoyed the exercise component
of the game; they preferred to actively enter the words rather than watching others jump.
According to the log-file data, the students entered even more words in the given time than
in study 1, indicating high engagement levels. In contrast to study 1, however, where none
of the students reported a lack of engagement, ten students in this study indicated that they
were getting easily bored by the game. Most of these students also reported that they
preferred to watch the others play rather than hop themselves. As the game was played in a
multiplayer-mode with four to five students playing on the same sensor mat, the game may
still have the potential to engage them in the case where they choose a more active role or
play in a single-player mode.
Regarding the learning outcomes, the results of this study indicate an advantage of the
teacher-centred lesson concerning recognition—choosing the right English translation of a
given German word out of 11 words presented. For cued recall, however, an advantage of
the HOPSCOTCH lesson could be shown. After playing the exer-learning game, the stu-
dents were better able to translate a German word into English and to correctly spell it. In
particular, the correct spelling might be a crucial variable, as the students receive imme-
diate feedback when entering their English translation of a German word in HOPSCOTCH.
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HOPSCOTCH 787
Consistent with our expectations, the reduction of the variables to be learned from 13
words in the first study to 10 in the second study led to higher repetitions per word, and to
the expected advantage of HOPSCOTCH compared to the teacher-centred lesson con-
cerning cued recall tasks.
The results of this study with regard to the students’ attitudes towards learning English
indicate that they considered learning English to be more fun and reported that they were
more motivated to improve their English after the HOPSCOTCH lesson than after the
teacher-centred lesson. This result suggests that HOPSCOTCH may have the potential to
positively affect students’ attitudes towards learning English.
Summary and conclusion
In this paper, we introduced exer-learning games that not only combine playing and
learning, but also integrate exercise as a principal component of a digital learning game.
Physical activities within a learning game may constitute a game incentive that facilitates
engagement. Furthermore, multidisciplinary research results suggest that physical activities
may be positively related to cognitive performance. In our view though, the physical
activity should be integrated into learning games. Exercise should not be an extraneous
feature, but should rather be fully integrated in the learning process within exer-learning
games. With HOPSCOTCH we presented a first approach to realize such a digital exer-
learning game. The experiences we gained in the first exploratory studies showed that it is
possible to integrate an exer-learning game into everyday life of a school. The schools
director and the teachers showed high engagement, and the results of the studies showed
that the students’ performance was not reduced. With HOPSCOTCH the pupils learned at
least as well as within a ‘‘traditional’’ teacher-centred lesson. As our first objective we
wanted to determine if it was feasible to integrate digital teaching aids into elementary
school lessons. In this perspective the results are fully successful.
Studies report a positive relationship between physical fitness and cognitive perfor-
mance. The exer-learning game approach, however, primarily aims at actively engaging
players in meaningful learning activities. The physical activities required by the game are a
means to the end of making learning fun in the first place. As a secondary benefit these
physical activities during learning may also positively affect cognitive performance.
Furthermore, the application of exer-learning games may create two desirable side-effects
of: (i) increasing engagement and thus reducing low level disruption in lessons in the
classroom benefiting the learning experiences of the whole class; and (ii) encouraging
learners to undertake additional physical activities that may, in the long run, facilitate their
physical fitness, which in turn positively affects their cognitive performance.
Our focus was not to perform another study on the relationship of fitness and cognitive
performance but on the role of physical activity as an incentive. In order to evaluate the
learning results when playing HOPSCOTCH, a criterion was needed against which to
compare the performance of the students. We therefore compared lessons where new
vocabulary was learned and practiced via HOPSCOTCH to ‘‘traditional’’ teacher-centred
lessons that also aimed at introducing and practicing new vocabulary. Although this
approach has some obvious methodological limitations, it may contribute to derive pre-
liminary results on the effect of HOPSCOTCH on learning. According to the results of the
first study, playing HOPSCOTCH did at least not impair the performance of the students
on cued recall tasks compared to a teacher-centred lesson. This was true, although the
vocabulary words were put into context within the teacher-centred lesson, which was not
123
the case when playing HOPSCOTCH. Moreover, even on the first encounter with the
game, the additional exercise component—that may require cognitive resources to perform
the ‘‘dance steps’’—did not seem to impair learning.
As one important outcome we learned that a comparison of different learning methods
needs a comparable pedagogic basis. The teacher-centred lesson taught English vocabu-
laries by repetition and by putting the words in contexts. In the HOPSCOTCH-lesson
students learned by repetition and with the additional element of exercise.
The results of both studies indicated that the students liked playing the exer-learning
game very much. Both the results of the evaluation questionnaire and the analyses of the
log-file data implied high engagement levels. None of the 4th grade students in the first
study reported getting easily bored with the game. In the second study, however, 10 out of
58 3rd grade students reported lower engagement levels, and most of them also indicated
preferring watching the others hop rather than actively playing themselves. Based on the
present data, it cannot be decided whether this result is due to the different age groups (4th
vs. 3rd grade) or to the multi-player mode used within the studies that did not require an
active role from all players. There are differences between the teaching methods in terms
of the students’ integration into the learning process and the way that the students and
teacher interact. We have not yet assessed how differences in teaching approaches (with or
without new technologies) impacts learning; and we have not yet formulated guidance on
how it might be necessary to modify teaching approaches to use exer-gaming as a main-
stream teaching aid.
For future research, in addition to the quantitative and objective data captured in the
presented studies, we believe it would be necessary to capture qualitative data to further
explore the engagement of the students during the game. Video recordings or observer
notes of the HOPSCOTCH lessons would allow for comparisons of the student teams on
the different sensor mats, of engaged and disengaged students or of the engagement level
over time. Qualitative data of this kind may also help to identify possible reasons for
disengagement that can then be addressed in revisions of the game design.
In the second study, we introduced recognition as a second indicator for learning. Here,
the students performed better after the teacher-centred lesson than after the HOPSCOTCH
lesson. This, however, was not the case for cued recall tasks. In contrast to the first study,
the second study showed the advantages of HOPSCOTCH on cued recall compared to a
teacher-centred lesson. After playing the exer-learning game, the students were better able
to remember and correctly spell the new words. Lowering the number of words to be
learned in the given time from the first to the second study allowed for higher repetition
rates per word in the HOPSCOTCH lesson. This may then have led to the advantage of
HOPSCOTCH in the second study, suggesting that the students need enough time to repeat
each word to be learned more than five times. This result, however, needs further exam-
ination. On basis of the findings we can now carry out calculations on the number of words
to be learned with HOPSCOTCH and the number of words usually learned in traditional
English lessons, to set up long-term studies in schools. In summary, the studies conducted
yielded preliminary results which showed that applying HOPSCOTCH as a teaching aid
within school lessons may be a fruitful approach to facilitate both an active engagement
and learning. Furthermore, the application of digital learning games does not exclusively
aim at fostering learning in terms of efficiency (learning as much as possible in a given
time). It rather focuses on motivating people to engage in effective learning activities.
Therefore, a promising new genre of digital learning games would not only need to
facilitate learning, but also to make learning fun.
123
HOPSCOTCH 789
According to the results of the exploratory studies, nearly 90 % of the students in the
first and 70 % of the students in the second study reported not to prefer alternatives for
learning English, such as books, CDs or vocabulary books compared to playing HOP-
SCOTCH. In addition to these evaluation data, we investigated the students’ attitudes
towards learning English after the teacher-centred lesson and after the HOPSCOTCH
lesson. The results showed a benefit of the HOPSCOTCH lesson, indicating that playing
the exer-learning game may positively affect the students’ attitudes towards learning this
language. Although this may also be an effect of the novelty of the game for the students,
or the fact of playing a game rather than attending an ‘‘ordinary’’ school lesson, this result
is still an encouraging one. It may show the potential of a HOPSCOTCH exer-learning
game to positively affect the attitudes towards learning; deliberately engaging students in
learning activities even during leisure time—playing the game at school, at home, and with
friends and family to attain a high score.
The studies presented are both explorative in nature and, therefore, delivered pre-
liminary results that point to a need for further investigation. The primary goal of the two
explorative studies presented was to examine the potential of HOPSCOTCH as a tool to be
applied in school. We therefore set the studies in a natural field setting—within regular
school lessons. In order to keep the application of HOPSCOTCH as realistic as possible,
we put up with the consequence that the internal validity of the studies would suffer in
favour of the external validity. This includes the comparability of the two study conditions:
Within the teacher-centred lesson in study 1 and 2, the vocabulary words to be learned
were put into context, while the HOPSCOTCH lesson focused on memorization. We chose
this setting to compare a ‘‘realistic’’ teacher-centred lesson to the new exer-learning
approach. The results showed that even though no context information was provided within
the HOPSCOTCH lessons, the students’ performance on cued recall did not suffer com-
pared to the teacher-centred lesson.
The explorative studies presented can be used as a starting point to design future studies
that further explore the potential of HOPSCOTCH as a game-based learning approach.
They may investigate alternative integrations of the exer-learning game in school lessons
and extend the focus to mixed settings where the game is applied in school and leisure
time. Longitudinal studies may contribute to distinguish between novelty effects and
effects of the game itself when it comes to the students’ engagement and their attitudes
towards learning. Additional qualitative data of the students’ behaviour and engagement
during learning could inform future game design decisions on HOPSCOTCH-based exer-
learning games. In addition to field studies, more controlled laboratory studies are needed
in order to deeply explore the relationship between the game-inherent physical exercises
and the cognitive processes of the learner. They may help to understand to what extent the
required body movements and the game activities can fulfil a mnemonic function (Stork
2003), as well as how and why acute exercise may facilitate cognition. Whereas the
presented studies focused on the acquisition of factual knowledge, future studies may also
seek to examine the potential of exer-learning games to support new cognition. They may
further investigate the relationship between the cognitive load of the learners and the
expected increasing automatization of the body movements with increased practice
(Schnotz and Kuerschner 2007). Finally, the application of the design concept, HOP-
SCOTCH, is not limited to learning foreign language vocabulary. It may also be applied
for factual knowledge from other domains such as geography (e.g. capital cities, federal
states) or math (e.g. multiplication tables). Beyond factual knowledge, other learning goals
can be realized by requesting solutions to word problems, answers to questions or even the
navigation through a map in order to locate a given city or mountain range. While the
123
application presented was designed for elementary school children, the design concept
HOPSCOTCH can also be applied for adolescents, adults and senior citizens, such as
training medical students in anatomy facts, Latin names of muscles or diseases.
In sum, exer-learning games in general, and HOPSCOTCH in particular, provide a
promising approach to combine learning, playing and physical activity in order to create
engaging learning activities.
Acknowledgments We would like to thank Ruth N. Schwartz, Judith Schweppe, Helmut M. Niegemann
and Paul Cheshire for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. The research presented
has been partially funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology within the project
‘‘Gesundheitscoach@ConnectedHealth’’ under contract 01MG11003, and the Thuringian state chancellery
within the project of ‘‘HOPSCOTCH@school’’ under contract A82/09/0054.
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Martina Lucht was working 10 years in air traffic control business, before she decided to study applied
media sciences at the Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany. In 2007, she completed her PhD thesis on
the difference of knowledge acquisition and opinion formation between conventional and digital, multi
perspective documentary films. Since 2008 she has been working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital
Media Technology designing and evaluating innovative digital learning concepts.
Steffi Heidig studied communication psychology at the University of Applied Sciences, Goerlitz, Germany.
In 2007, she completed her PhD thesis on motivational and learning effects of pedagogical agents at the
University of Erfurt, Germany. Her research interests include emotional and motivational aspects of
multimedia learning as well as the design and evaluation of interactive learning games.
123
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Applying HOPSCOTCH as an exer-learning game in English lessons: Two

Article in Educational Technology Research and Development · October 2013

Martina Lucht Steffi Heidig

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Martina Lucht & Steffi Heidig

Educational Technology Research

Education Tech Research Dev (2013)

Applying HOPSCOTCH as an exer-learning game

Martina Lucht • Steffi Heidig

Published online: 13 September 2013

Abstract This article describes HOPSCOTCH, a design concept for an exer-learning

Keywords Digital game-based learning Serious games Exercise Exer-learning

Games and learning

Game-based learning in the classroom

Game-based learning for the acquisition of factual knowledge

Exercise and learning

What can exercise in an educational game contribute to learning? A positive relationship

Physical activities and cognitive performance

Physical fitness and cognitive performance

Correlational studies indicate that physical fitness is positively related to academic

Acute physical activities and cognitive performance

HOPSCOTCH: a design concept for exer-learning games

Idea and concept of HOPSCOTCH

Hopscotch is a children’s game where the challenge is to hop on a series of numbered

Fig. 1 Playing field of the

Fig. 2 Input device for the HOPSCOTCH exer-learning game

Fig. 3 Set-up of the

Facilitation of the flow of the game

Playing modes and strategies

of crib (Stork 2003). Applying HOPSCOTCH offers linkages to complex physical

Applying HOPSCOTCH in school lessons—two exploratory studies

In this study, we integrated a HOPSCOTCH vocabulary game into an English lesson in

Participants and design

Materials and procedure

Table 1 Scales and items of the evaluation questionnaire

First, we were interested in the students’ evaluation of HOPSCOTCH as an exer-learning

Strongly Agree Dis- Strongly No

Attraction of 1.00 1.24 0.46 78.2 16.4 5.4 0 0

Class 4a 32.45 2.44 65.00 14.17 5.00 0.25

Potential scores ranged from 0 (low) to 26 (high)

more differentiated analysis would be preferable. Therefore, a second exploratory study

Participants and design

Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly No

Attraction of 1.25 1.51 0.68 55.3 32.7 8.6 1.7 1.7

Class 3a 28.85 0.27 66.75 3.30 6.68 0.24

Recognition 4.81 0.44 4.57 0.60

subscales [remembering: t(53) = -2.74, p = 0.008, d = 0.45; spelling: t(53) = -2.17,

Summary and conclusion

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