A Study on the Influence of Recreational Activities Intervening in Natural Science Courses on Learning Motivation and Learning Outcomes—The Case of Tabletop Games

This study explored the effects of the integration of tabletop games in natural science and environmental education courses on students’ learning motivation and learning effectiveness. Four tabletop games were designed and integrated in educational programs, and 100 fifth-grade students at an elemen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 15; no. 3; p. 2509
Main Authors Lin, Chao-Yen, Lin, Hsiao-Hsien, Ting, Kuo-Chiang, Shen, Chih-Chien, Lo, Chih-Cheng, Hung, Hsiu-Chu, Tsai, Li-Ju
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.01.2023
Subjects
Academic achievement
Amusements
Attribution theory
Classrooms
Core curriculum
Education
Education, Elementary
Educational materials
Educational objectives
Educational research
Educational technology
Elementary school students
Environmental education
Games
Instructional design
Integration
Learning
Motivation
Qualitative analysis
Recreation
Research methodology
Science
Sciences education
Skills
Students
Study and teaching
Teaching methods
Taiwan
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Summary:This study explored the effects of the integration of tabletop games in natural science and environmental education courses on students’ learning motivation and learning effectiveness. Four tabletop games were designed and integrated in educational programs, and 100 fifth-grade students at an elementary school in Taiwan participated in the study. Participants were divided into experimental and control groups. The former received an instructional program with tabletop games; the latter was the original program. Both groups had received the instructions for the two units of the natural science course for eight weeks. Furthermore, participants’ academic performance results were collected to investigate the effects of tabletop games on their learning effectiveness. This study has shown that integration of tabletop game in the natural science course significantly improved students’ learning attention. While the academic performance of the experimental group improved, the standard deviation decreased. In addition, qualitative data indicated the high acceptability of tabletop games integration in courses. Tabletop games integration in courses might also enhance different learning motivational dimensions. The findings of the integration of tabletop games might be beneficial to educational curriculum-specific pedagogy.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su15032509