Teacher perceptions of the value of game-based learning in secondary education

Abstract

Teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of digital games might be a reason for the limited application of digital games in education. However, participants in most studies of teaching with digital games are teachers who do not use digital games regularly in their teaching. This study examined the practice-based perceptions of teachers who do teach with digital games -either playing or creating games -in their classroom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 43 secondary education teachers. Our findings showed that most teachers who actually use games in class perceived student engagement with a game and cognitive learning outcomes as effects of the use of games in formal teaching settings. Fewer teachers mentioned motivational effects of learning with digital games. The implications of these findings for the use of digital games in teachers' educational practice are discussed.

An Exploratory Multiple Case Study about Using Game-Based Learning in STEM Classrooms

“…In addition, as the nature of the explorative case study, we were more interested in understanding the natural phenomena which occurred within the data in question and providing new research ideas for future studies to explore. However, the result of the research question three echoed the previous findings about teachers' positive perceptions of GBL when they used it in their classrooms (Huizenga, ten Dam, Voogt, & Admiraal, 2017;Watson, & Yang, 2016).…”

“…In addition, teachers' perceptions about GBL are also another barrier to overcome. According to researchers (Huizenga, ten Dam, Voogt, & Admiraal, 2017;Watson, & Yang, 2016), teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of GBL might be a reason for the limited application of digital games in education. In their study with 43 secondary teachers, Huizenga, ten Dam, Voogt and Admiraal (2017) found that most teachers who actually used games in class perceived student engagement with a game and cognitive learning outcomes as effects of the use of games in formal teaching settings.…”

“…According to researchers (Huizenga, ten Dam, Voogt, & Admiraal, 2017;Watson, & Yang, 2016), teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of GBL might be a reason for the limited application of digital games in education. In their study with 43 secondary teachers, Huizenga, ten Dam, Voogt and Admiraal (2017) found that most teachers who actually used games in class perceived student engagement with a game and cognitive learning outcomes as effects of the use of games in formal teaching settings. This explorative case study with four STEM courses at different levels was built to gain a further understanding of GBL impacts on students' performances and teachers' perceptions of GBL in authentic STEM learning settings.…”

Implicit modeling of learners’ personalities in a game-based learning environment using their gaming behaviors

“…Machado et al (2018) state that digital games are good tools to make learners more engaged and motivated to learn. Teachers also believe that using digital games for learning can enhance learners' motivation and learning outcomes (Huizenga et al 2017). In this context, 67% of American learners learn using digital games in classrooms (Statista 2018).…”

Design and Evaluation of a Game for Mobile Platforms about Periodic Properties of the Chemical Elements

“…Games are excellent tools to introduce the topics and supplement lectures; such activity is much more stimulating to students than the traditional approach based on memorization (Franco-Mariscal et al, 2016). Generally, teachers report that game-based teaching motivated students to learn, then teaching with games engage students and influence their learning outcomes (Huizenga et al, 2017).…”