A Visualized Analysis of Game-Based Learning Research from 2013 to 2017

This study aims to make a visualized analysis of game-based learning (GBL) research so as to provide more insights into the research quantity, categories, regions, the most influential scholars and the research hotspots. This paper analyzed the articles and proceeding papers derived from Web of Science (WOS) in the field of game-based learning from 2013 to 2017. A total of 1818 publications were selected and analyzed by the CiteSpace, which was a freely java application to analyze and visualize the trends of scientific publications. The results indicated that the quantity of game-based learning research presents a growth tendency from 2013 to 2017. The category of Education & Educational Research were the most common category in this field. Mozelius P was the most influential researchers. Furthermore, it was found that serious game, motivation, education and gamification were the most frequently used words in the field of game-based learning. Serious game, environment, motivation, gamification, mathematic and Intelligent tutoring system were the research hotspots in this domain. The implications and limitations were also discussed in detail.