| Sumario: | Previous research using collaborative mobile augmented reality games in science education revealed that such games can be used to promote learner engagement and have found that engagement in such mobile games is related to flow. This study investigated whether player's flow experience differed by achievement track, gender, or gender composition of working groups. In an urban school district, 202 students from two eighth‐grade science classes participated in a collaborative mobile science game. Data included a self‐report survey collected after the game that measured player's flow experience. Using a regression model, the relationship of flow experience with achievement track and gender was explored while controlling for group composition and teacher effects. The study found that gender was related to flow experience; specifically, girls reported higher flow experience scores (d = 0.30). Flow experience did not have a statistically significant relationship with achievement track showing that the activity engaged all observed students similarly. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Achievement level tracking is a known problem for discouraging student success.Girls lack interest in science; they are more anxious and enjoy it less than boys.Girls and low achievers are more engaged if science is taught in a meaningful way.Game‐based learning can be engaging and facilitates social construction of knowledge.What this paper adds: The collaborative mobile game model engages low‐achievement students in a similar fashion to other students.The collaborative mobile game model engages girls more than boys.Implications for practice and/or policy: Playing collaborative mobile games may help low‐achieving students achieve more success in science.Playing collaborative mobile games may help girls become more interested in science.Overall, this study demonstrates a way to engage under‐represented populations with science.
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