Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item The effects of gamification in the middle school classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2023) Nuttall, Jordan Michael; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: C. John GravesGamification, or the use of game elements in non-game contexts, has gained popularity in recent years as a way to increase engagement and motivation in various settings, including education. The aim of this paper is to explore the effects of gamification in the classroom. Specifically, literature on the use of gamification in educational settings will be reviewed, examining its impact on student motivation, learning outcomes, and attitudes towards learning. The potential drawbacks and challenges of implementing gamification strategies in the classroom will be discussed. I will detail the results of gamification in my own classroom and discuss its impact on the aforementioned topics. In my study, game elements included using character representations for each student, experience points and levels in place of traditional points and grades, and boss battles in place of tests. My analysis suggests that gamification can be an effective tool for enhancing student motivation and engagement in the classroom, leading to improved learning outcomes. However, the success of gamification strategies may depend on a number of factors, including the specific implementation, target audience, and context in which they are used. I conclude with gamification being an overall viable option for use in my own classroom.Item Game based learning in middle school math classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Velez, Hernando Oswald; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisEducational research has identified student enjoyment and self-efficacy as key aspects of student motivation, and as major contributors to student attitudes toward a particular subject. In addition, increases in both enjoyment and self-efficacy have been linked to game play participants in both recreational game play and game-based learning (GBL). This study investigated the effects of allowing student choice of game play format during GBL treatment sessions. For this action research study students in a math intervention course were allowed to choose their format of engagement in a GBL treatment. The treatment asked students to engage, in the game play format of their choosing, competitive, cooperative, or individually, with an online game designed to facilitate a gamified review tool and a gamified formative assessment tool. The researcher hypothesized that allowing students to repeatedly engage with the same game in the gameplay format of their own choosing would improve student attitudes about their enjoyment and confidence while learning math. Likert-type survey on attitudes about GBL and gameplay formats, student engagement metrics, and facilitator observations were utilized to capture quantitative and qualitative data throughout the treatment period. Analysis of data revealed that student attitudes improved in terms of their sense of enjoyment and self-efficacy while engaging in GBL during math class.Item The effect of a gamified learning segment in a high school conceptual physics classroom on student engagement, motivation, and measures of learning(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Rider, Blake E.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisStudents often struggle learning physics concepts, in large part due to the lack of engagement and motivation in many science classrooms. Students who are focused in and engaged with the material tend to believe that they understand the concepts better than those who are uninterested. This study primarily investigated the effect of gamifying a learning segment using Classcraft on student engagement, motivation, and perception of physics. The study also examined the effect of gamifying different portions of the instructional sequence, as well as the effect on performance on formative and summative assessments. Students played Classcraft while learning about Newton's 2nd Law while their time on-task was observed. Then, they answered survey questions, participated in an interview, or participated in a focus group to share their experiences. The results indicated that playing Classcraft while learning about physics did increase student time on-task and perception of engagement. However, what motivated students remained largely unchanged. Lastly, there was also not a substantial difference in direct measures of learning on summative assessments but there did appear to be a difference on formative assessment performance.Item Deeper connections through interactivity in the virtual space(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2019) Wilk, Elizabeth Clare; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo Lipfert360 and virtual reality films are still developing an editing grammar. This editing grammar is dependent on how soon the consumers adopt immersive media, further proving 360/VR is a new genre of film. This new editing grammar will result in the gamification of 360/VR films. By converting consumers from passive viewers to active users, people will develop deeper understandings of the narrative subjects. This interactivity within a virtual space will additionally influence the framework of thought and how people imagine scenarios. 'A Road Through the Wild' is a concept piece and educational 360/VR experience using interaction to direct viewers to actively participate with the experience. Hotspots are present in each location to guide users through the virtual space while allowing them to make choices to learn more about the area surrounding the Beartooth Highway. This piece shows there is more that can be done with 360/VR content to invite users to actively participate with the experience rather than passively watch. Furthermore, it shows how interactivity can be used as an editing technique within 360/VR by allowing users to decide when to cut a shot, what shot is next, where they look and when the film ends. The user becomes the editor.Item Inquiry-based instructional strategies and science content vocabulary(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2017) Idar, April M.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisDue to the sophisticated academic vocabulary in science, students need help in learning and processing academic vocabulary and language to become independent science learners. The purpose of this study was to investigate which inquiry-based instructional strategies will effectively improve student acquisition of science content vocabulary. This action research-based classroom project was conducted at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado. Treatment was implemented in three freshman level physical science classes (N=87) during the months of January, February, and March 2017. Content-specific vocabulary terms were taught using traditional direct instruction and compared to vocabulary instruction using the inquiry-based strategies 5E Learning Cycle and gamification. Comparison of vocabulary pre- and post-assessments has shown that all three instructional strategies improved student vocabulary acquisition (p = 0.00), however there was not a significant difference between the three instructional strategies (p = 0.49). The 5E Learning Cycle had the highest post-test mean score, highest average normalized gains, and had the greatest decrease in standard deviation between the pre-and post-test indicating it was likely more effective than direct instruction and gamification instructional strategies. Student responses on the Student Input Survey and post-treatment interviews showed that students enjoyed the 5E Learning Cycle and gamification instructional strategies and felt that these strategies improved their motivation, engagement, and learning of content vocabulary more than direct instruction.Item The effect of implementing gamification principles in a middle and high school science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2017) Day Rider, Joseph D.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter WoolbaughGamification is the application of principles commonly found in games and applying them to a non-gaming setting. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent the effect of incorporating gamification principles had on a middle and high school science classroom. The effect on retention of material, the students' attitude towards science, and the impact these principles had on the teacher were included in this study. Results from this study suggest that while there was no discernable relationship between gamification and the retention of material by students, gamification principles did have a positive effect on the attitudes of the students regarding coming to class and participating in class. It was also determined that these principles had a greater impact on a middle school classroom and that for gamification to work, there needs to be a more thorough implementation of the principles which requires more commitment from the teacher.