Mystery of a Super Ball: A Personal Account on a Chemistry Gamification in Promoting Soft Skills Amongst Pre-Service Teachers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32890/pr2023.5.1Keywords:
Flipped learning, Game-based Learning, Instructional Technology, collaboration, action researchAbstract
Gamification becomes trending to increase learning engagement. Yet it is rarely attempted by teachers for flipped classroom approach due to time constraint, the need for creativity and technology literacy. In this paper, I share my experience in gamification design to promote communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity (4Cs) among students. Faced with stagnancy in using traditional cooperative strategies, I took on the challenge of designing the game “Mystery of Super Ball” for the Polymer topic, involving a group of pre-service teachers as Agents in a mystery-mission game. The study design was motivated by the gap in action research’s reflective practitioner philosophy. Data was gathered through video recording, semi-structured interviews, and student reflections. The findings indicate that students demonstrated strong communication and collaboration skills while immersing themselves in their detective roles. Triangulating with quantified episodes, communication (31.01%) and collaboration (25.58%) were substantively prevalent in the students’ problem-solving tasks. However, critical thinking (22.79%) and creativity (20.62%) showed relatively lower occurrences, suggesting the need for revising my strategies. Among the 24 subconstructs of the 4Cs themes, two were minimally observed: ‘Create new and worthwhile ideas (both incremental and radical concepts)’ and ‘Analyze and evaluate major alternative points of view’, falling under creativity and critical thinking, respectively. These insightful findings strongly advocate for reevaluating the current critical essay assessment on the Polymer topic. A more innovative approach is needed, one that challenges students to showcase their creative and critical problem-solving abilities. Noteworthy, students’ perceptions of my creativity shed light on my strengths and weaknesses in game design, providing valuable insights for future research recommendations. This study highlights the importance of being a reflective practitioner, both for my pre-service student-teachers and myself as a lifelong learner.
References
Ab. Rahman, R., Ahmad, S., & Hashim, U. R. (2018). The effectiveness of gamification technique for higher education student’s engagement in polytechnic Muadzam Shah Pahang, Malaysia. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-018-0123-0
Acedo C., & Hughes C. (2014) Principles for learning and competences in the 21th -century Curriculum Prospects, 44, 503-525.
Akpur, U. (2020). Critical, reflective, creative thinking and their reflections on academic achievement. Think. Skills Creat. 37:100683.
Algayres, M. G., & Triantafyllou, E. (2019). Combining the flipped classroom and simulation games in engineering education: a methodological survey. In Varietas delectat... Complexity is the new normality: Proceedings SEFI 2019 · SEFI 47th Annual Conference · Budapest, 16-20 September, 2019 (pp. 83-92). SEFI: European Association for Engineering Education. https://www.sefi.be/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/SEFI2019_ Proceedings.pdf
Bado, N. (2019). Game-based learning pedagogy: A review of the literature. Interactive Learning Environments, 1-13.
Barata, G., Gama, S., Jorge, J., & Gonçalves, D. (2017). Studying student differentiation in gamified education: A long-term study. Computers in Human Behavior, 71, 550-585.
Barron, F., & Harrington, D. M. (1981). Creativity, intelligence, and personality. Annu. Rev. Psychol, 32, 439–476.
Binkley, Sam (2014) Happiness as Enterprise: An Essay on Neoliberal Life. Albany: SUNY Press.
Boller, Sharon (2013). “Learning Game Design: Game Mechanics”. The Knowledge Guru. Retrieved 11 August 2020
Boyle, E. A., MacArthur, E. W., Connolly, T. M., Hainey, T., Manea, M., Kärki, A., & van Rosmalen, P. (2014). A narrative literature review of games, animations and simulations to teach research methods and statistics. Computers & Education, 74, 1–14. Practitioner Research, 5, July 2023 pp: 1-
Brookfield S. D. (1987) Developing Critical Thinkers. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Buckley, P., & Doyle, E. (2017). Individualising gamification: An investigation of the impact of learning styles and personality traits on the efficacy of gamification using a prediction market. Computers & Education, 106, 43-55.
Bulut, D., Samur, Y., & Cömert, Z. (2022). The effect of educational game design process on students’ creativity. Smart Learn. Environ. 9, 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-022-00188-Çakıroğlu, Ü., Başıbüyük, B., Güler, M., Atabay, M., & Memiş, B. Y. (2017). Gamifying an ICT course: Influences on engagement and academic performance. Computers in human behavior, 69, 98-107.
Camilleri, V., Busuttil, L., Montebello, M. (2011). Social Interactive Learning in Multiplayer Games. In: Ma, M., Oikonomou, A., Jain, L. (eds) Serious Games and Edutainment Applications. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2161-9_
Cassel, J. F., & Congleton, R. J. (1993). Critical thinking: An annotated bibliography. Scarecrow Press.
Cirocki, A., & Farrell, T. S. (2017). Reflective practice for professional development of TESOL practitioners. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 6(2), 5-23.
Chan, S., & Yuen, M. (2014). Personal and environmental factors affecting teachers’ creativity-fostering practices in Hong Kong. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 12, 69–77.
Chi, M. T. H., Bassok, M., Lewis, M. W., Reimann, P., & Glaser, R. (1989). Self-explanations: How student study and use examples in learning to solve problems. Cognitive Science, 13, 145–182.
Connolly, T. M., Boyle, E. A., MacArthur, E., Hainey, T., & Boyle, J. M. (2012). A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games. Computers & Education, 59(2), 661–686.
Cropley, A. J. (2001). Creativity in education and learning: A guide for teachers and educators. London, UK: Kogan Page.
De Freitas, S., & Oliver, M. (2006). How can exploratory learning with games and simulations within the curriculum be most effectively evaluated? Computers & Education, 46(3), 249–264.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19(2), 109–134. Practitioner Research, 5, July 2023 pp: 1-Department of Statistics, Malaysia [DOSM]. (2021a). Labour Force Survey, 2020. Putrajaya: DOSM.
Deterding, S., Sicart, M., Nacke, L., O’Hara, K., & Dixon, D. (2011). Gamification. using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts. In CHI’11 extended abstracts on human factors in computing systems (pp. 2425-2428).
Dicheva, D., Dichev, C., Agre, G., & Angelova, G. (2015). Gamification in education: A systematic mapping study. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 18(3), 75-88.
Fullerton, T., Swain, C., & Hoffman, S. (2004). Game design workshop: Designing, prototyping, & playtesting games. CRC Press.
Glassner, A., & Schwartz, B. (2007). What stands and develops between creative and critical thinking? Argumentation? Think. Skills Creat. 2, 10–18.
Hamari, J. (2017). Do badges increase user activity? A field experiment on the effects of gamification. Computers in Human Behavior, 71, 469–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.03.036
Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work?—A literature review of empirical studies on gamification. In R. H. Sprague (Ed.), 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (pp. 3025–3034). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE.
Hannah, D. R., & Lautsch, B. A. (2010). Counting in Qualitative Research: Why to Conduct it, When to Avoid it, and When to Closet it. Journal of Management Inquiry, 20(1), 14–22.
Hanus, M. D., Fox, J. (2015). Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: A longitudinal study on intrinsic motivation, social comparison, satisfaction, effort, and academic performance. Comput. Educ. 80, 152–161.
Hung, H.-T. (2018). Gamifying the flipped classroom using game-based learning materials. ELT Journal, 72(3), 296–308.
Huang, B., & Hew, K. F. (2018). Implementing a theory-driven gamification model in higher education flipped courses: Effects on out-of-class activity completion and quality of artifacts. Computers & Education, 125, 254–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.06.
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: game-based methods and strategies for training and education. John Wiley & Sons. Practitioner Research, 5, July 2023 pp: 1-
Kolb, D. A. (2014). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. FT press.
Kulgemeyer, C. (2018). Impact of Secondary Students’ Content Knowledge on Their Communication Skills in Science. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 16(1), 89–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-016-9762-
Landers, R. N., & Landers, A. K. (2014). An empirical test of the theory of gamified learning: The effect of leaderboards on time-on-task and academic performance. Simulation & Gaming, 45(6), 769-785.
Le, H., Janssen, J., & Wubbels, T. (2018). Collaborative learning practices: teacher and student perceived obstacles to effective student collaboration. Cambridge Journal of Education, 48(1), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2016.1259389
Lee, J. J., & Hammer, J. (2011). Gamification in education: What, how, why bother? Academic Exchange Quarterly, 15(2). Retrieved January 24, 2014, from http://www.gamifyingeducation.org/ files/Lee-Hammer-AEQ-2011.pdf.
Lin, L., & Lin, L. (2015). Exploring collaborative learning: Theoretical and conceptual perspectives. Investigating Chinese HE EFL Classrooms: Using Collaborative Learning to Enhance Learning, 11-28.
Lister, M. C., & College, H. (2016). Gamification: The effect on student motivation and performance at the post-secondary level. Issues and Trends in Educational Technology, 3(2), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_itet_v3i2_lister
Lucas, S. R. (2001). Effectively maintained inequality: Education transitions, track mobility, and social background effects. American Journal of Sociology, 106(6), 1642-1690.
Mathew, P., Mathew, P., & Peechattu, P. J. (2017). Reflective practices: A means to teacher development. Asia Pacific Journal of Contemporary Education and Communication Technology, 3(1), 126-131.
Mayer, R. E. (2020). Cognitive foundations of game-based learning. In J. L. Plass, R. E. Mayer, & B. D. Homer (Eds.), Handbook of game-based learning (pp. 83–110). The MIT Press.
McNiff, J. (2016). You and Your Action Research Project. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203112755
Ministry of Education. (2016). National aspiring principals programme.http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/ Leadership-development/Leadership-programmes/Aspiring-principals-programme. Practitioner Research, 5, July 2023 pp: 1-
Nah, F. F. H., Eschenbrenner, B., Zeng, Q., Telaprolu, V. R., & Sepehr, S. (2014). Flow in gaming: Literature synthesis and
O’Grady-Jones, M., & Grant, M. M. (2023). Ready Coder One: Collaborative Game Design-Based Learning on Gifted Fourth Graders’ 21st Century Skills. Gifted Child Today, 46(2), 84–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/10762175221149259
Ozdamli, S. K. A. F. (2018). A review of research on gamification approach in education.
Parody, L., Santos, J., Trujillo-Cayado, L. A., & Ceballos, M. (2022). Gamification in engineering education: The use of Classcraft platform to improve motivation and academic performance. Applied Sciences, 12(22), 11832.
Pellegrino, J. W., Chudowsky, N., & Glaser, R. (Eds.). (2001). Knowing what students know. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Pintrich, P. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In M. Boekaerts, P. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation. San Diego: Academic.
Plass, J. L., & Kaplan, U. (2015). Emotional design in digital media for learning. In S. Tettegah, & M. Gartmeier (Eds.), Emotions, technology, design, and learning (pp. 131–162). NY: Elsevier.
Robberts, A. S., & Van Ryneveld, L. (2022). Design principles for introducing 21st century skills by means of game-based learning. Industry and Higher Education, 36(6), 824–834. https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222221079210
Rubin, Steve (2010). Introduction to Game Development (2.ed). USA: Cengage. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-84003-103-7.
Ryan, R. M., Rigby, C. S., & Przybylski, A. (2006). The motivational pull of video games: A self-determination theory approach. Motivation and Emotion, 30, 344–360. http://dx.doi. org/10.1007/s11031-006-9051-
Sabourin, J. L., Shores, L. R., Mott, B. W., & Lester, J. C. (2013). Understanding and Predicting Student Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in Game-Based Learning Environments. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 23(1-4), 94–114.
Sailer, M., & Sailer, M. (2020). Gamification of in-class activities in flipped classroom lectures. British Journal of Educational Technology.
Sailer, M., Hense, J. U., Mayr, S. K., & Mandl, H. (2017). How gamification motivates: An experimental study of the effects Practitioner Research, 5, July 2023 pp: 1-of specific game design elements on psychological need satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 371-380.
Sanmugam, M., Zaid, N. M., Abdullah, Z., Aris, B., Mohamed, H., & van der Meijden, H. (2016). The impacts of infusing game elements and gamification in learning. In 2016 IEEE 8th international conference on engineering education (ICEED) (pp. 131-136). IEEE.
Schöbel, S. M., Janson, A., & Söllner, M. (2020). Capturing the complexity of gamification elements: A holistic approach for analysing existing and deriving novel gamification designs. European Journal of Information Systems, 29(6), 641-668.
Schon, D. A. (1991). The reflective practitioner. Ashgate Publishing.
Schön D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Schunk, D. H., & Zimmerman, B. J. (2003). In W. M. Reynolds & G. E. Miller (Eds.), Self-regulation and learning (Vol. 7, pp. 59–78). Wiley & Sons.
Seaborn, K., & Fels, D. I. (2015). Gamification in theory and action: A survey. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 74, 14–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2014.09.
Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1999). “The concept of creativity: prospects and paradigms” in Handbook of Creativity. ed. R. J. Sternberg (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press), 3–15.
Suphasri, P., & Chinokul, S. (2021). Reflective Practice in Teacher Education: Issues, Challenges, and Considerations. PASAA: Journal of Language Teaching and Learning in Thailand, 62, 236-264.
Tamrin, M., Latip, S. N. N. A., Latip, M. S. A., Royali, S. A., Harun, N. A., & Bogal, N. (2022). Students’ acceptance of gamification in education: The moderating effect of gender in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(8), 1847–1860.
van Roy, R., & Zaman, B. (2017). Autonomously motivating gamification in education: An explorative study.
Von Ahn, L., & Dabbish, L. (2004, April). Labeling images with a computer game. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (pp. 319-326).
von Ahn, L., & Dabbish, L. (2004). Labeling images with a computer game. Proceedings of the 2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI ’04. Practitioner Research, 5, July 2023 pp: 1-
Wechsler, S. M., Saiz, C., Rivas, S. F., Vendramini, C. M. M., Almeida, L. S., Mundim, M. C., et al. (2018). Creative and critical thinking: Independent or overlapping components? Think. Skills Creat. 27, 114–122.
Winne, P. H. (2001). Self-regulated learning viewed from models of information processing. In B. J. Zimmerman & D. H. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theoretical perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 153–189). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Yalcin Arslan, F. (2019). Reflection in pre-service teacher education: Exploring the nature of four EFL pre-service teachers’ reflections. Reflective Practice, 1–14.
Yunus, M., Nordin, N., Salehi, H., Amin Embi, M., & Salehi, Z. (2014). Future of ICT as a Pedagogical Tool in ESL Teaching and Learning. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 7(4), 764–770.
Zichermann, G., & Cunningham, C. (2011). Gamification by Design: Implementing Game Mechanics in Web and Mobile Apps. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media.
Zimmerling, E., Höllig, C. E., Sandner, P. G., & Welpe, I. M. (2018). Exploring the influence of common game elements on ideation output and motivation. Journal of Business Research.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In M. Boekaert, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulated learning (pp. 13–39). San Diego: Academic.
