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Software coding framework.
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The purpose of this study was to examine reviews of mathematical software for elementary classrooms, looking particularly at the implicit rubrics used for these reviews. Examination of the software reviews allowed an understanding of the type of information educators receive about the software available and how that information fits with current vi...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... the research on rational number, we examined the software reviews in regard to the following criteria: topic, student strategies, repre- sentation, context, integration, gender equity, and general aspects such as motivation, technical problems, feedback and teacher work materials. Fig. 1 lists the categories and their speci c codes along with their operational de nitions. (A more detailed description of each category will be provided in the Results section.) The criteria falling within each of these broader categories were generated from the research literature and the software reviews. Other review criteria came ...
Context 2
... the following sections, we present the results of our evaluation of the 95 software reviews. We share our ndings by category; we describe each of the categories, their codes and the percentage of software reviews falling into those categories. All the results are summarized in Fig. ...
Context 3
... decided to code for three topic areas in the software reviews: (1) operating on fractions (including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), (2) developing equivalence (identifying and comparing fractions, fair sharing and equivalence), and (3) general fractions (see Fig. 1). These categories partially represent the areas highlighte d by the eld, but more generally represent what was available from the reviews. The reviews were often not speci c about the content addressed in the ...
Context 4
... de ned three review categories of representation: single, combi- nation, and manipulable (see Fig. 1). Single refers to software where the user has access to only one representation of rational numbers, be it symbolic or pictorial. Combination refers to software that has multiple representations of rational numbers, but the user does not have control over, or the ability to manipulate, the representation. Manipulable pertains to ...
Context 5
... players begin with ten units representing food, clothing, and housing but with no money or bonus points. (Alba, 1995, p. 107) ...
Context 6
... (Tools for Interactive Mathematical Activity): Bars is designed to function as a learning tool that helps children in grades 1-7 construct their own knowledge of whole numbers and fractions … It allows the student to explore the concept of a rectangular bar in ways that are not possible with physical manipulatives, such as drawing fractional parts from a bar, iterating those parts, and comparing parts to other parts and to wholes. (Vukelic, 1997, p. 489) ...
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Citations
... More specifically, the learning materials are incorporated into the core mechanics of the gaming world in the TCC while the learning materials are not linked with the core mechanics of the gaming world in the LCC [17,25,47]. Both approaches have different strengths and weaknesses. ...
Learning materials are integrated into digital games in digital game-based learning (DGBL). There are two types of contexts to present such integration, i.e., tightly coupling context (TCC) and loosely coupling context (LCC). These two types of contexts have different strengths and weaknesses. On the other hand, prior abilities have great effects on DGBL. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the effects of the TCC and LCC on DGBL from a prior ability aspect. Regarding the TCC, low-ability students and high-ability students obtained similar gain scores. On the other hand, the post-test scores of high-ability students were significantly better than their pre-test scores in the TCC while such a significant difference was not found for low-ability students. Regarding the LCC, high-ability students acquired significantly higher gain scores than low-ability students. Furthermore, students’ post-test scores were significantly higher than their pre-test scores in the LCC, regardless of low-ability students or high-ability students. Implications for system design are also discussed.
... In spite of the growing body of literature on the use of games in education, there are still relatively few resources that help people select COTS games for use in the classroom. A survey by Kafai, Franke, & Battey (2002) conducted at the turn of the century found that reviews of educational software tended to focus on the ease of use of the software rather than its efficacy, and while the situation has improved in the ensuing decade, it remains difficult to locate for games the kinds of teaching resources that are relatively common for other educational media. ...
Digital games are being used more and more often as teaching resources in the classroom (Habgood & Ainsworth, 2011). Some are games designed specifically for educational purposes, and others—commonly known as COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) games—are commercial games that were designed for entertainment, but have educational value as well. Some of these, like The Sims, Civilization, and Portal, have come to be seen as educational games despite having commercial success outside of education. COTS games may be free to download or play, or games that must be purchased. They can be for any platform, including mobile.
While there appears to be a gradually growing acceptance of the use of games for learning, this acceptance is largely focused on games designed specifically for learning, in other words, serious games where the educational purpose of the game is explicit and was likely part of the design goals right from the start. When it comes to using COTS games in the classroom, acceptance is still often replaced with skepticism (Van Eck, 2006). Some have proposed their own theories about which attributes of COTS games make them suitable candidates for use in a formal learning context, and while the body of research on the use of games for learning continues to grow, there is still no definitive evidence that any specific theory carries more weight than any other. What is clear is that the use of games for learning holds sufficient promise to warrant continued inquiry (Perrotta, Featherstone, Aston, & Houghton, 2013).
To avoid the negative backlash against games that occurred in the “Edutainment Era” we need to adopt a more moderate approach supported by evidence that our efforts are at least as good as traditional approaches, and preferably better (Wilson, 2009). The so-called Edutainment Era, which started in the mid- to late 1980s and lasted to the mid-1990s, was the first time that computer games for education became popular, and they were promoted by some as a panacea. All one needed to do was wrap a game around a lesson, and it would magically become fun. This, of course, is not true, and the fall from grace for many educational games developers left them reeling.
By once again preaching that games are effective and useful for learning we give the impression that all games are good for everyone to learn everything (Van Eck, 2006). Clearly, this is an overstatement of fact and it is understandable how this message might turn people off to the idea of using some games to teach certain things. It is important to emphasize that whether a game is intended for use in formal education (e.g., preschool, K-12, higher education), corporate training, or other professional development, the context and activities surrounding the game are key to reaping whatever potential benefits a particular game may offer. The size of the game, that is, the amount of time it takes to learn how to play the game as well as the expected length of play are also important factors when considering games for learning.
Ultimately, the fitness of any particular game, like any other instructional technology, will depend not only on the game itself, but also on the requirements, features, and limitations of the environment in which it will be used and the people who will be using it. This chapter
... In spite of the growing body of literature on the use of games in education, there are still relatively few resources that help people select COTS games for use in the classroom. A survey by Kafai, Franke, & Battey (2002) conducted at the turn of the century found that reviews of educational software tended to focus on the ease of use of the software rather than its efficacy, and while the situation has improved in the ensuing decade, it remains difficult to locate for games the kinds of teaching resources that are relatively common for other educational media. ...
... Formative and summative evaluation of instructional materials are essential elements of the instructional design process, but when it comes to software and especially digital games and simulations, the ability to evaluate the software itself before it is used in a real situation is essential. Evaluations and reviews of software do exist, but they often say little about what and how the students will learn (Kafai, Franke, & Battey, 2002). This paper outlines a simple yet effective model that can be used to help in the evaluation of existing games and in the design of new digital games for educational purposes. ...
Game-based learning (GBL) is widely utilised in various domains and continues to receive interest and attention from researchers and practitioners alike. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence concerning its effectiveness, making GBL evaluation a critical undertaking. This paper proposes an integrated approach for planning and executing GBL evaluation studies and presents its application by evaluating the effectiveness of a GBL approach to improve the Arabic reading skills of migrant refugee children in an informal learning setup. The study focuses on how children’s age group, learning modality preference, and prior mobile experience affect their learning, usability, and gameplay performance. A quasi-experiment with a one-group pretest-posttest design was conducted with 30 children (5–10 years old) from migrant refugee backgrounds. The results show a statistically significant improvement in their reading assessment score. The results also outline a clear impact of children’s age groups on their learning gain, usability score, and total levels played. Moreover, learning modality preference and prior mobile experience both had a statistically significant effect related to usability and gameplay performance parameters. However, no effect was found on learning gain. Based on the findings, some design recommendations are suggested for more inclusive design focusing on user characteristics.
This paper outlines a simple and effective model that can be used to evaluate and design educational digital games. It also facilitates the formulation of strategies for using existing games in learning contexts. The model categorizes game goals and learning objectives into one or more of four possible categories. An overview of the model is provided and the four categories are defined. The model is used to analyze several games. The implications that this model has for the design and use of games as instructional technologies are then described.
This paper outlines a simple and effective model that can be used to evaluate and design educational digital games. It also facilitates the formulation of strategies for using existing games in learning contexts. The model categorizes game goals and learning objectives into one or more of four possible categories. An overview of the model is provided and the four categories are defined. The model is used to analyze several games. The implications that this model has for the design and use of games as instructional technologies are then described.
Pre-service elementary teachers planning for mathematics instruction: The role and evaluation of technology tools and their influence on lesson design
