Developing an educational game to support cognitive learning

This paper outlines how an educational game can be used to support the learning of programming within the Computer Science (CS) discipline and reports on the qualitative results of a series of rigorous studies of the use of this game by first-year introductory programming students. Although this paper applies to the CS discipline, computational thinking (CT) as an intrinsic part of the games process is applicable to any discipline. This is because CT combines logical thinking with CS concepts to produce a recipe for solving problems, regardless of where a problem lies. Many studies indicate that learning through educational games appeals widely to students, regardless of their backgrounds (Liu et al, 2011; Papastergiou, 2009). However, though many of these studies demonstrate enthusiasm for educational games and indicate that games can enhance motivation for learning, they offer very few conclusions about what students learn from playing them or whether or not they acquire cognitive abilities thereby (Denner et al, 2012; Connolly et al, 2011)

We\u27re Back, Live and Unplugged: Non-Digital Gameplay for Review and Fun

During the COVID-19 pandemic, middle grades students spent months isolated and, in many cases, learning remotely from teachers who were themselves scrambling to adapt to new technology. While addressing these experiences will require a multifaceted approach from stakeholders, teachers can help reintroduce students to their classrooms with student-centered, socially interactive, analog-based games intended to reinforce learning and boost engagement. This practitioner paper presents a context and a model for such play based on a popular public domain game that allows for team play, creativity, inculcation, and, frankly, fun while reviewing for mastery. The model affords teachers an extremely low-budget, student-crafted and student-executed game that can be adapted for a variety of disciplines. This paper will provide an example for an English class that has recently read excerpts from Homer’s The Odyssey

Game-Based Learning and Classroom Interactional Competence: Opportunities for Pedagogical Innovation in the Japanese EFL Context

departmental bulletin pape

Media pembelajaran board game Jamapra (jelajah zaman prasejarah) untuk siswa sekolah menengah atas

Berangkat dari permasalahan pembelajaran sejarah di kelas X IIS 2 SMA Al-Izzah IIBS Batu berupa kurang variatifnya media yang digunakan sehingga sejarah dianggap tidak menarik dan membosankan; pernyataan bahwa bahwa prasejarah termasuk materi yang sulit dipahami; dan sebagian besar siswanya yang menyukai cara belajar sambil bermain, maka penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjadi solusi dari permasalahan yang ada dengan jalan mengembangkan media pembelajaran inovatif board game Jamapra sekaligus mengetahui keefektifan dan kepraktisannya. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini merujuk pada 10 langkah R & D milik Sugiyono. Penelitian dilakukan di kelas X IIS 2 SMA Al-Izzah IIBS Batu dengan melibatkan 19 siswa sebagai responden. Data penelitian diambil menggunakan instrumen lembar validasi, angket, dan lembar soal. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa board game ‘Jamapra’ yang menarik dan interaktif dapat menciptakan suasana pembelajaran yang menyenangkan sehingga mampu memotivasi siswa dalam belajar prasejarah dan efektif berpengaruh positif terhadap hasil belajar siswa

Wardopoly: game-based experiential learning in nurse education

A culture shoe box filled with cultural objects is an inexpensive, hands-on educational resource introduced to facilitate workshops and enhance students’ learning experience especially in teaching culture, ethics and communication. The box can enhance students’ engagement through their sense of ownership especially if students themselves donate inexpensive items to the box, and it can also enhance group cohesion through the rich discussions and fun that such objects are likely to generate. For educators, this teaching tool adds an element of versatility and excitement through engagement and play, especially when teaching the same topics to different groups of learners. The reusability and renewability nature of the culture shoe box allows for an always-interesting feel of higher education classrooms

Noneducational board games in University Education. Perceptions of students experiencing Game-Based Learning methodologies

In the recent years, most academic literature of Game-Based Learning (GBL) has provided in-depth knowledge of the characteristics of games that foster participative learning and that increase the level of motivation of students. In addition, most of these studies have focused on videogames. Consequently, few academic research has centred in the potentialities of noneducational board games as teaching methodologies. The current paper intends to contribute to filling this gap with an exploratory investigation with a two-stage process. The first involved three experimental interventions in six bachelor degree courses for Communication and Biochemistry studies (n=196 students). In these interventions, teachers introduced commercial board games that were related to the content of the courses and aimed students to play. The second stage gathered data-driven results from an online survey among the students who had participated in the GBL interventions (n=87). The study analyses the perceptions of students in relation to their preferences in teaching methodologies, the suitability of board games in class, their reasons for feeling motivated while playing and the skills experienced during the GBL sessions. Results reveal that the sessions generated high perception levels of engagement and motivation as well as the development of transversal skills such as teamwork and communication. Keywords: game-based learning; board games; motivation; university education

Examining Trajectories of Elementary Students’ Computational Thinking Development Through Collaborative Problem-Solving Process in a STEM-Integrated Robotics Program

Developing K-12 students’ computational thinking (CT) skills is essential. Building on the existing literature that has emphasized programming skill development, this study expands the focus to examine students’ use of underlying CT cognitive skills during collaborative problem-solving processes. A case study approach was employed to examine video data of 5th graders engaging in an integrated-STEM robotics curriculum. The findings reveal that students applied algorithmic thinking most frequently and prediction the least. They recorded most debugging behaviors initially in the problem-solving process, but after accumulating more experiences their uses of other CT skills, including algorithmic thinking, pattern recognition, and prediction, increased. Implications for developing young learners’ CT skills to solve real-world problems are discussed