r '

UTILIZING INSTRUCTIONAL GAMES

AS AN INNOVATIVE TOOL TO IMPROVE
SCIENCE LEARNING AMONG
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
DR. PATRICE JULIET PINDER, ED. D.
STEM Education Research Institute (SERI)
Indiana University, Purdue University, Indianapolis, Indiana
Education researchers and teachers have been interested in improv-
ing students' conceptual xmderstanditig and motivational levels to do
school work. Over the past two decades, there have heen studies in-
vestigating the effects of instmctional games oti students' academic
performance and motivation levels. However, the studies conducted
were with high school and university students. Relatively few studies
have been conducted that examine the efiects of using instmctional
games in the elemetitary classroom. Thus, the present study addresses
this gap in the literature. The study was primarily a quantitative study
and it utilized 16 students; 10 grade 1 students from Atlanta and 6
grade K students from Baltimore. Three Baltimore elementary teach-
ers participated. Pre-tests and post-tests were distributed to students
and a brief questionnaire was administered to the teachers. Results of
the study revealed that the use of games in combination with class-
room lectures were beneficial for the grade 1 students, but not for the
grade K students. Additionally, the teachers found the use of games
in combination with lectures to be "highly effeetive" in helping their
students to understand basic science concepts. This research concluded
with suggestions for future research and also gave some suggestions
for cross currieular use of instmetional games.
Keywords: instmctional games, elementary students' achievement,
gaming and leaming in elementary schools
Introduction Brief Review of literature
Education researchers and teachers have Klein and Freitag (1991) conducted a
long been interested in improving younger quantitative, experimental study to determine
students' imderstanding of scientific concepts the effect of instmctional gaming on students'
and they have also been interested in improv- motivation and performance. Klein & Freitag
ing students' motivation levels to do school conducted their study using 75 undergrad-
work (Klein & Freitag, 1991). Over the past uates. The undergraduates were randomly
two decades, there have been studies done that assigned to one of two treatment groups af-
examined the benefits of using instmctional ter they had attended a lecture on the infor-
games to improve students' motivation and mation-processing model of leaming. The
performance levels (Klein & Freitag, 1991). participants in one treatment group used an
However, very few studies were conducted instmctional board game to practice the ma-
that looked specifically at how young students terial presented in their lecture, while those in
may benefit from such an innovative tool. the other group practiced using a traditional
worksheet (Klein & Freitag, 1991). Results
434
Utilizing Instructional Games as an Innovative Tool to Improve Science Leaming... / 435
from Klein and Freitag's study revealed that
using the instmctional game significantly
affected the four motivational components
of attention, relevance, confidence, and satis-
faction. However, the instmctional game did
not seem to infiuence academic performance
(Klein & Freitag, 1991).
Theoretical Underpinnings
According to the National Science Ed-
ucational Standards, Teaching Standard A,
science curriculum and lesson content should
originate and be designed fi-om the interests,
knowledge, understanding, ability, and ex-
periences of the students (Krantz, 2003). Al-
though it might be felt that younger students
are not adept in regards to science, many
researchers are proving this theory wrong.
It is pointed out that the elementary science
classrooms are composed of leamers who are
engaged in scientific processes. These yoxmg-
sters often ask real world questions and seek
real world answers. So even at very young
ages, students are becoming scientific inquir-
ers (Krantz, 2003).
Some pre-schoolers, kindergartners, and
first graders may have difficulty in classifying
concrete objects grouped by a single property.
So with this in mind, teachers have to plan
a process that actively involves students in
their own leaming (Wolfinger, 1984). Such a
process can generate a variety of perspectives
on a topic, provide depth to content, and lead
to significant understanding of concepts. Fur-
ther, according to the socio-cultural and social
constmctivist theorists, effective teaching must
be improvisational because if the classroom is
scripted and directed by the teacher, the stu-
dents can not co-constmct their own knowledge
(Sawyer, 2004). Additionally, a socio-cultural
perspective implies that leaming is a shared
social activity and is collectively managed by
all participants, not only the teacher (Sawyer,
2004). It has been argued that creative teaching
is vital to facilitating students' grasping and
imderstanding of new concepts. It is often im-
plied that the best teachers are those who can
apply immense creativity to their lessons and
yet impart profound content in their subject
area in a way to enable students to fiiUy grasp
understanding of the lesson content.
Moreover, teachers know the importance
of cognitive theory in stmctudng appropriate
experiences in science. Teachers may try to
introduce youngsters to those skills that will
grow and carry over to other subject areas and
other science experiences. Behaviors such as
observing, classifying, predicting, and infer-
ring are important science process skills to
build in the elementary years or even earlier.
Much of the Piagetian research in cognition
has underlined the importance of teaching sci-
ence between the ages of six and eleven from
a concrete, demonstrable foundation (Miller,
1989). Shayer and his associates (cited in
Rowell & Dawson, 1980) argue that students
must be well advanced into formal operational
stages of thinking before they can understand
certain formal science concepts. Basically, it is
believed that younger children do not have the
cognitive (mental) development to understand
science concepts at a very young age. Howev-
er, Piaget believed that students between the
ages of 6-11 do have the cognitive capacity to
develop a firm grasp of science concepts.
Research Questions
This research study was guided by two re-
search questions. The two research questions
were: (1) is the use of game board activities
effective or ineffective in improving the sci-
ence performance and motivation levels of
younger students? And, (2) is there a differ-
ence between grade K and grade 1 students'
test scores pre and post game application?
Methods
Sample Size and Study Sites . . .'
Ten students of an urban elementary
school in Atlanta, Georgia and 6 students of
436 / Education Vol. 133 No. 4
an urban elementary school located in Balti-
more City, Maryland, served as participants.
Three Baltimore elementary school teachers
also participated in the study. The first part
of this research was conducted in Atlanta be-
tween February 13, 2006 and May 1, 2006.
The second part of the study was conducted
on November 26, 2007 in Baltimore.
Research design
A quantitative research design employing
a 'one group, pre test-post test design' was
primarily used as such:
o
Pretest
(Before
treatment)
X
treatment
(Game
boards +
leetures)
O 0
post test 1 delayed
post test 2
(After treatment was
implemented)
Data Instruments & Materials Utilized:
The instruments used in this study were:
game boards + formal lectures on "living ver-
sus non-living things," pre-tests, post-tests,
and brief teacher questionnaires.
Table 1. Pre-test and post-test scores
of Baltimore grade K students
Student
1
2
3
4
5
6
Pre-test
(%)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Post-test 1
(%)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Delayed Post-
test 2 (%)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Table 2. Pre-test and post-test mean
scores for Baltimore Grade K
students
Results
Effectiveness of Gaming and Science Learn-
ing Within the Elementary Classroom
The first question in this study examined
whether elementary teachers thought the use
of instructional games in combination with
formal lectures were efFective in improving
students' academic outcomes and motivation-
al levels to do school work. The brief respons-
es given by the three elementary school teach-
ers provided answers to the first question.
60% of the teachers viewed game
activities as being highly effective in
simplifying scientific concepts for K-5
students.
100% of the teachers viewed game
board activities as being highly effec-
tive in increasing students' motivation
levels to do science (this was in line
with the findings of Klein & Freitag,
1991).
60% of the teachers viewed game
board activities as being highly effec-
tive in improving K-5 students' con-
ceptualization of scientific concepts.
Table 3. Pre-test and Post-test scores
of Atlanta grade 1 students
Pre-test mean score
0.00
Post-test I mean score
0.00
Student
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Pre-test
(%)
83
83
83
83
100
50
100
83
64
100
Post-test 1
(%)
100
100
90
100
100
85
100
100
100
100
Post-test 2
(delayed)
60
100
70
100
100
55
100
100
100
100
utilizing Instructional Games as an Innovative Tool to Improve Science Leaming... / 437
Comparing K and Grade 1 Students' Test
Scores (Pre and Post Game Application)
The final question in the current research
sought to find out if there was a difference
between grade K and grade 1 students' test
scores before and after the use of the instruc-
tional game boards. Tables 1 ^ and Figtrre 1
answer the researcher's second question. As is
shown in Tables 1-4 and Figure 1, there were
diflerences between grade K and grade 1 stu-
dents' pre-test and post-test mean scores and
individual scores. Tables 1 and 2 recorded no
pre-test and post-test scores for tbe 6 Baltimore
grade K students and thus the resulting pre-test
and post-test mean score was 0.00 (because
the students could not move beyond the initial
pre-testing stage). However, with the grade 1
students, the results were somewhat different
fi-om that seen with the grade K sttidents. In-
corporating game board activities into a formal
science lecture on "living versus non-living"
things appeared to work very well with the
10 Atlanta grade 1 students. The primary re-
searcher not only saw a difference between the
grade 1 and K students' mean and individtial
scores, but the researcher also saw a difference
between the grade 1 students' individual pre-
test and post-test scores and between their pre-
test and post test mean score with the students'
overall post test mean score being 97.6%
which was much higher than their initial pre-
test mean score of 72.9%
Discussion, Recommendations for
Future Research, and Cross Curricular
Application of Games
To some extent, the pre-test and post-
test mean scores obtained fi-om first graders
in Atlanta and the results of the elementary
teachers' questionnaires seem to concur with
the findings of the educational game theory
literature, which seem to suggest that the use
of game activities in formal lectures is highly
effective in improving students' motivation
levels (Klein & Freitag, 1991). However,
Table 4. Pre-test and post-test mean
scores for grade 1 Atlanta
students
Pre-test
mean score
72.9%
Post-test 1
mean score
97.6%
the present study fotmd that the use of in-
stmctional game seemed to also influence
students' academic performance; this find-
ing conflict with those of Klein and Freitag
(1991) who found no relationship between the
use of instmctional game and students' aca-
demic performance. Additionally, the positive
data findings obtained for grade 1 students do
not conctir with those of cognitive psychol-
ogist Shayer (cited in Rowell & Dawson,
1980). However, the positive data findings for
grade 1 students in this study seem to align
with those findings of Jean Piaget who foimd
that some young students do have the mental
capability to imderstand science concepts,
if they are made really simple to them (see
Rowell & Dawson, 1980).
Shayer and his colleagues postulated
that students must be well advanced into the
formal operational stages of thinking before
they can understand certain formal science
concepts. Thus, it is believed tbat very young
children do not have the cognitive developn
ment to imderstand science concepts (see
Rowell & Dawson, 1980). The findings ob-
tained from the grade K students in this study
appear to concur with the sentiments men-
tioned beforehand.
After reviewing the literature and con-
ducting this study, it is suggested that more
studies be conducted tbat can employ quanti-
tative and qualitative approaches to examine
the benefits of game activities on elementary
students' leaming. In addition to the sugges-
tion for ftiture research, the following ideas
are also cross curricula suggested uses of
game activities:
438 / Education Vol. 133 No. 4
Comparison of Pre - test and Post Test Scores
m
-J I i . i J I.J. ! L-l. I L X i LL
Pre test
Post test 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of Students
Figure 1. Comparison of pre-test and post-test scores of grade 1 Atlanta students
Game activities cou.d be extended to
other topics in biology and general
science
Game boards can consist of numbers
rather than words for mathematics
content delivery and students can be
allowed to identify 'even digits' on
the game board, or 'odd numbers' on
the game board, if teachers wanted to
explain and test the concept of 'odd
numbers' versus 'even numbers' with
younger students
References
Klein, J.D., & Freitag, E. (1991). Effects of using an
instructional game on motivation and performance.
The Journal of Educational Research, 84, 303-308.
Krantz, P.D. (2003). Flying through the standards with
bats. Journal of Science Activities, Classroom Proj-
ects and Curriculum ideas, 39, 29-33.
Miller, J.K. (1989). Collections tum students on to basic
scienee skills. Science Activities, 26, 11-13.
Rowell, J.A., & Dawson, C.J. (1980). Mountain or Mole
Hill: Can cognitive psychology reduce the dimen-
sions of conceptual problems in classroom practice.
Science Education, 64(5), 693-708.
Sawyer, R.K. (2004). Creative Teaehing: Collaborative
discussion as disciplined improvisation. Educational
Researcher, 33(2), 12-20.
Wolfinger, D. (1984). Teaching science in the elementary
school. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company Press.