Game based learning in middle school math classroom

Abstract

Educational 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.