An investigation of the artifacts and process of constructing computers games about environmental science in a fifth grade classroom

This study employed a case study design (Yin, Case study research, design and methods, 2009) to investigate the processes used by 5th graders to design and develop computer games within the context of their environmental science unit, using the theoretical framework of constructionism. Ten fifth gra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEducational technology research and development Vol. 59; no. 6; pp. 765 - 782
Main Authors Baytak, Ahmet, Land, Susan M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston Springer Science + Business Media 01.12.2011
Springer US
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Case Studies
Children
Computer & video games
Computer games
Computer programming
Computer Science Education
Computer Software
Computers
Constructionism
Constructivism (Learning)
Design
Education
Educational Games
Educational Technology
Educational Theories
Elementary school students
Environmental Education
Environmental science
Games
Grade 5
Instructional design
Investigations
Learning
Learning and Instruction
Learning Processes
Observation
Programming
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Research design
Teachers
Teaching Methods
Game design
Programming
Constructionism
Children’s learning
Environmental education
Educational technology
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Summary:This study employed a case study design (Yin, Case study research, design and methods, 2009) to investigate the processes used by 5th graders to design and develop computer games within the context of their environmental science unit, using the theoretical framework of constructionism. Ten fifth graders designed computer games using Scratch software. The results showed students were able to design functional games, following a learning-by-design process of planning, designing, testing, and sharing. Observations revealed that game design led to opportunities for informal knowledge building and sharing among students. This, in turn, encouraged students to test and improve their designs. The findings support the conclusion that elementary students can develop programming concepts and create computer games when using graphical programming software developed for their level of experience. Insights into the iterative process of learning-by-game design are presented.
ISSN:1042-1629
1556-6501
DOI:10.1007/s11423-010-9184-z