Using Electroencephalogram Signals to Determine Differences in Brain Functional Connectivity During Game-Based Problem Solving Task

Game-based learning is one of the technology-enabled learning and teaching approach that promotes personalised learning. In relation to the cognitive aspect of learning, recent literature suggests that gaming and game trainings improved cognitive abilities, brain function and brain structure as well as promoting brain plasticity. This paper presents a research that aimed to examine gender differences in brain functional connectivity during game-based problem solving task. 30 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) served as the participants of this experimental study that employed within-subject design. During the experiment, each participant was given two main tasks: a control task and a game-based problem-solving task called Tower of Hanoi (TOH). The respondents' performances were recorded by electroencephalogram (EEG) signals and the data were analysed using PDC analysis. Initial results based on visual observations indicated that there was no difference of patterns in functional connectivity pathway between male and female respondents, either between the tasks, nor between the performances. Further statistical analysis also confirmed that there is no significant difference observed between number of sources and gender. Alhough this study could not provide conclusive results, but it gives insights into different of patterns of brain activities that were triggered by technology-enabled learning and teaching approach like problem-based gaming.