International Journal of Learning and Change (3 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• How do educational digital games support higher education students motivational, cognitive and metacognitive competencies and their attitudes towards learning?  
  by Cengiz Gündüzalp 
  Abstract: This study aimed to assess the effects of educational digital games on students motivational, cognitive, and metacognitive competencies and their attitude towards learning (ATL) in information technologies classes performed through distance learning. The study was conducted with mixed method. The research group of the study consists of prospective teachers. Considering the experimental and control groups, the study findings revealed statistically significant differences in favour of the experimental group on the factors of self-efficacy, using metacognitive strategies, using the learning strategies, adapting the learning process, and evaluating the learning results. The findings further indicated a substantial difference in favour of the experimental group regarding effort toward learning and caring learning factors. As a result, the study findings concluded that educational digital games are ideally efficient tools to foster students motivational, cognitive, and metacognitive competencies and ATL. Increasing the quantity and quality of future studies might significantly contribute to the educational digital games domain.
  Keywords: educational digital game; EDG; cognitive competencies; metacognitive competencies; attitudes towards learning.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2026.10079983
   
  
• From fragmentation to continuity: extending the learner matrix through integration of major learning theories  
  by Debrashi Mukherjess, Maidul Islam 
  Abstract: Higher education increasingly involves fragmented learning across courses, platforms, and pedagogies, yet lacks an integrated framework to sustain learning over time. This paper introduces learning continuity as a unifying concept, integrating major learning theories within an extended, subject-neutral learner matrix framework. Using a conceptual approach and theoretical triangulation, it reviews contiguity learning, social learning, cognitive load theory, constructivism, media richness theory, and connectivism to examine their roles in continuous learning. The analysis shows that learning continuity emerges from integrating cognitive, social, technological, and experiential processes, forming an interconnected learning ecosystem. The extended learner matrix illustrates how these dimensions support ongoing knowledge development across contexts. The framework offers practical guidance for programme-level curriculum design, blended learning implementation, and the creation of coherent learning pathways across courses and academic stages. It provides higher education institutions with a conceptual tool to reduce curricular fragmentation and strengthen cumulative learning. This study contributes by defining learning continuity as a distinct construct, differentiating it from contiguity-based learning, expanding the learner matrix for cross-disciplinary use, and proposing a triangulated theoretical model to guide future research in higher education pedagogy.
  Keywords: learning continuity; learner matrix; higher education; theoretical triangulation; constructivism; connectivism; cognitive load theory.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2026.10080093
   
  
• The interplay between cognitive profile and mathematics anxiety in middle school students  
  by Nisha Mahaur, Sona Ahuja 
  Abstract: Mathematics anxiety (MA) is a major barrier to students mathematical learning and academic achievement. Although previous studies have examined individual cognitive factors, the combined influence of multiple cognitive domains on MA remains underexplored. This study investigated the relationship between MA and the cognitive profile of 347 middle school students in India (M_age = 12.06 years; 48.41% girls) across five cognitive domains: coordination, perception, memory, reasoning, and attention. Participants completed the general cognitive assessment battery (GCAB) and the modified abbreviated math anxiety scale (mAMAS). Correlation, multiple regression, ANOVA, and structural equation modelling (SEM) using path analysis were employed. Significant negative correlations were observed between MA and all cognitive domains. However, SEM using path analysis revealed that only perception had a significant direct negative effect on MA after accounting for interrelationships among the cognitive domains. These findings highlight the importance of perceptual ability and suggest that interventions targeting perceptual skills may help reduce MA.
  Keywords: mathematics anxiety; cognitive profile; middle school students; structural equation modelling; SEM.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2026.10080573