Testing the Effectiveness of Mathematical Games as a Pedagogical Tool for Children’s Learning

Bragg, Leicha A.

doi:10.1007/s10763-012-9349-9

Cited by 33 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In contrast to a few studies reporting the positive effects of peer interactions on students' engagement and performance (Bragg, 2012;Corredor, 2018), this research instead revealed that students' high-level peer interactions could not promote their task efficiency and learning engagement. Rather, their peer interactions interrupted their reflection on how their game actions should be refined.…”

Section: Students' Peer Interaction Effectcontrasting

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Relationships Among Middle School Students’ Peer Interactions, Task Efficiency, and Learning Engagement in Game-Based Learning

Moon

2020

Simulation & Gaming

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Background. Middle school students’ math anxiety and low engagement have been major issues in math education. In order to reduce their anxiety and support their math learning, game-based learning (GBL) has been implemented. GBL research has underscored the role of social dynamics to facilitate a qualitative understanding of students’ knowledge. Whereas students’ peer interactions have been deemed a social dynamic, the relationships among peer interaction, task efficiency, and learning engagement were not well understood in previous empirical studies. Method. This mixed-method research implemented E-Rebuild, which is a 3D architecture game designed to promote students’ math problem-solving skills. We collected a total of 102 50-minutes gameplay sessions performed by 32 middle school students. Using video-captured and screen-recorded gameplaying sessions, we implemented behavior observations to measure students’ peer interaction efficiency, task efficiency, and learning engagement. We used association analyses, sequential analysis, and thematic analysis to explain how peer interaction promoted students’ task efficiency and learning engagement. Results. Students’ peer interactions were negatively related to task efficiency and learning engagement. There were also different gameplay patterns by students’ learning/task-relevant peer-interaction efficiency (PIE) level. Students in the low PIE group tended to progress through game tasks more efficiently than those in the high PIE group. The results of qualitative thematic analysis suggested that the students in the low PIE group showed more reflections on game-based mathematical problem solving, whereas those with high PIE experienced distractions during gameplay. Discussion. This study confirmed that students’ peer interactions without purposeful and knowledge-constructive collaborations led to their low task efficiency, as well as low learning engagement. The study finding shows further design implications: (1) providing in-game prompts to stimulate students’ math-related discussions and (2) developing collaboration contexts that legitimize students’ interpersonal knowledge exchanges with peers.

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Section: Students' Peer Interaction Effectcontrasting

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Relationships Among Middle School Students’ Peer Interactions, Task Efficiency, and Learning Engagement in Game-Based Learning

Moon

2020

Simulation & Gaming

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“…Setarea was as effective as the active-learning unit at raising the students' understanding. Similar findings were reported by Bragg (2012a) and Siegler and Ramani (2008). However, the main difference between the two approaches was the teacher's and students' roles.…”

Section: Figure 8: Interactions Among Students During Game Missionssupporting

confidence: 83%

Students’ conception of set theory through a board game and an active-learning unit

Pawa

Laosinchai

Nokkaew

et al. 2020

IJISME

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We investigated whether two different learning interventions, Setarea board game and an active-learning unit, can promote the concepts of set theory in secondary students. Setarea was developed to help students learn set theory through the game’s components, mechanics, and missions. The game contained various decks of cards (collections), while its mechanics allowed players to perform different actions on the sets of cards (operations). The game’s missions required students to solve problems both individually and cooperatively. In the active-learning unit, a series of tasks related to set theory were provided. Students also cooperatively completed the provided tasks. The formal definitions and notations were introduced only in the active-learning unit. Seventh graders (have not learned), 9th graders (about to learn), and 11th graders (have learned) were recruited. For each grade, students were separated into two groups, engaging in the different learning interventions. We employed a pre-test–intervention–post-test design. In addition, we examined the students’ flow experiences which included three main dimensions: enjoyment, concentration, and control. A total of 183 Thai secondary students voluntarily participated in this study. The results revealed that both interventions significantly improved the students’ understanding, although no statistically significant differences between the two groups were found. Additionally, for each grade level, the students’ overall flow experiences from the board-game group were higher than those from the active-learning group, indicating that the board game was more immersive than the active-learning unit.

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“…Third, cognitive engagement is concerned with students’ perseverance (e.g., not giving up but doing more than expected in solving mathematics problems) and use of cognitive strategies in the learning process (e.g., handling a lot of information in mathematics problem‐solving) (Fredricks et al., ; Mahatmya, Lohman, & Matjasko, & Farb, ; Walker, Greene, & Mansell, ). Cognitively engaged students have higher levels of academic achievement (Greene, Miller, Crowson, Duke, & Akey, ; Sedaghat et al, ; Spanjers, ), possibly because these students are more interested in learning mathematics (Bal, ; Bragg, , ; Thatcher, ; Thiessen & Blasius, ).…”

Section: Main Effects Of Student Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student engagement and mathematics achievement: Unraveling main and interactive effects

Fung

Tan

Chen

2018

Psychology in the Schools

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The present study explored the relationships between student engagement and mathematics achievement for 295,416 15-yearold students from 11,767 secondary schools in 34 countries who participated in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012. Affective engagement was measured by students' mathematics interest (InterestMath) and perceived usefulness of schooling (PerceptionSch), behavioral engagement by behaviors facilitating mathematics learning (BehaviorMath) and participation in mathematics learning activities (ActivitiesMath), and cognitive engagement by openness (Openness) and perseverance (Perseverance) in problem-solving. Results showed that students who were more engaged had higher levels of academic achievement, with cognitive engagement having the strongest association with achievement. Results also showed that students who were highly engaged in two domains had higher achievement levels than peers who were engaged in only one domain in six pairwise comparisons (InterestMath-BehaviorMath, InterestMath-Openness, InterestMath-Perseverance, PerceptionSch-BehaviorMath, PerceptionSch-Openness, PerceptionSch-Perseverance). These results highlighted the importance of a whole-school based approach in enhancing student achievement.

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Testing the Effectiveness of Mathematical Games as a Pedagogical Tool for Children’s Learning

Cited by 33 publications

References 20 publications

Exploring the Relationships Among Middle School Students’ Peer Interactions, Task Efficiency, and Learning Engagement in Game-Based Learning

Exploring the Relationships Among Middle School Students’ Peer Interactions, Task Efficiency, and Learning Engagement in Game-Based Learning

Students’ conception of set theory through a board game and an active-learning unit

Student engagement and mathematics achievement: Unraveling main and interactive effects

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