Project title:
Curriculum aligned 3D Computer games in main stream education.
Andrew Carswell:
Secondary level focus
Megathemes:
Engagement, play vs work, teacher role, pedagogy
Research Question:
What is the effect of computer games on Yr11 science students' engagement and understanding?
Findings
Student engagement is elevated to the extent that students wanted to stay after school and during lunch times to progress through the game. Peer to peer tutoring was spontaneous and more common than 'normal'. Student understanding was personalised - they no longer learnt about a phenomena, they became the phenomena. Testing showed that the number of students performing at the 'excellence' level was doubled when compared to normal. No gender differences were apparent in understanding or engagement.
Recommendations
The 'hard work is good for you' ethnic is no longer palatable to secondary students. The most important factor in engaging students is the 'perception of effort'. Effort can feel like work or play. Students are more engaged and disciplined when effo rt feels like play. When students are faced with a gaming scenario they become players and develop a playful attitude is characterised by inquiry, goal focus, perseverance and a desire to succeed. For games to be effective in an educational setting they s hould allow for: social connectedness, random access, twitch speed decision making, parallel processing, a continual decision-action-feedback loop and be highly graphical.