Volume 18, 2019 Accepting Editor Man Fung (Kelvin) LO │Received: July 16, 2019│ Revised: September 27, 2019 │ Accepted: September 30, 2019. Cite as: Fokides, E., Atsikpasi, P., Kaimara, P., & Deliyannis, I. (2019). Factors influencing the subjective learn- ing effectiveness of serious games. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 18, 437-466. https://doi.org/10.28945/4441 (CC BY-NC 4.0) This article is licensed to you under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. When you copy and redistribute this paper in full or in part, you need to provide proper attribution to it to ensure that others can later locate this work (and to ensure that others do not accuse you of plagiarism). You may (and we encour- age you to) adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any non-commercial purposes. This license does not permit you to use this material for commercial purposes. F ACTORS INFLUENCING THE SUBJECTIVE LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS OF SERIOUS GAMES Emmanuel Fokides* University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece fokides@aegean.gr Penelope Atsikpasi University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece pred17015@aegean.gr Polyxeni Kaimara Ionian University, Corfu, Greece a16kaim@ionio.gr Ioannis Deliyannis Ionian University, Corfu, Greece yiannis@ionio.gr * Corresponding author ABSTRACT Aim/Purpose This work examines which factors influence user views on the learning effec- tiveness of serious games. For that matter, a model was developed and test- ed. Background Although the impact of serious games on learning is their most widely exam- ined aspect, research is spread thin across a large number of studies having little in common in terms of their settings, samples, and learning subjects. Also, there is a lack of consensus regarding which factors have an impact on their effectiveness. The most significant problem seems to be the fact that most assessment tools examined just a few factors. Methodology The initial model included eleven factors responsible for shaping the learning outcomes, belonging to four groups: (a) content, (b) technical features, (c) user state of mind, and (d) learning enabling features. All possible relation- ships between these factors and subjective learning effectiveness were exam- ined. Data were collected using the Serious Games Evaluation Scale. The target group was 483 university students who played two serious games. The model was tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling. Contribution The study offers the prototype of a rather complex model, accurately ex- plaining the intricate relationships between the substantial number of factors that were measured and their impact on user views regarding the subjective learning effectiveness of serious games.