AN INVESTIGATION OF THE ARTIFACTS, OUTCOMES, AND PROCESSES OF CONSTRUCTING ...

211 Pages·2009·1.63 MB·English

The Pennsylvania State University
The Graduate School
Department of Learning and Performance Systems

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE ARTIFACTS, OUTCOMES, AND PROCESSES OF
CONSTRUCTING COMPUTER GAMES ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE IN A
FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE CLASSROOM

A Dissertation in
Instructional Systems
by
Ahmet Baytak

© 2009 Ahmet Baytak

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

December 2009
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The dissertation of Ahmet Baytak was reviewed and approved* by the following:

Susan M. Land
Associate Professor of Education
Dissertation Adviser
Chair of Committee

Brian Smith
Associate Professor of Information Science and Technology and Education

Priya Sharma
Associate Professor of Education
Professor in Charge of Graduate Programs in Instructional Systems

Simon R. Hooper
Associate Professor of Education

*Signatures are on file in the Graduate School.
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ABSTRACT
Among educational researchers and practitioners, there is a growing interest in employing
computer games for pedagogical purposes. The present research integrated a technology
education class and a science class where 5th graders learned about environmental issues by
designing games that involved environmental concepts. The purposes of this study were to
investigate how designing computer games affected the development of students’ environmental
knowledge, programming knowledge, environmental awareness and interest in computers. It also
explored the nature of the artifacts developed and the types of knowledge represented therein.
A case study (Yin, 2003) was employed within the context of a 5th grade elementary
science classroom. Fifth graders designed computer games about environmental issues to present
to 2nd graders by using Scratch software. The analysis of this study was based on multiple data
sources: students’ pre- and post-test scores on environmental awareness, their environmental
knowledge, their interest in computer science, and their game design. Included in the analyses
were also data from students’ computer games, participant observations, and structured
interviews.
The results of the study showed that students were able to successfully design functional
games that represented their understanding of environment, even though the gain between pre-
and post-environmental knowledge test and environmental awareness survey were minimal. The
findings indicate that all students were able to use various game characteristics and programming
concepts, but their prior experience with the design software affected their representations. The
analyses of the interview transcriptions and games show that students improved their
programming skills and that they wanted to do similar projects for other subject areas in the
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future. Observations showed that game design appeared to lead to knowledge-building,
interaction and collaboration among students. This, in turn, encouraged students to test and
improve their designs. Sharing the games, it was found, has both positive and negative effects on
the students’ game design process and the representation of students’ understandings of the
domain subject.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. ii

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... vi

LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1

Learning by Game Design ............................................................................................... 3

Problem Statement ........................................................................................................... 6

Purpose and Research Questions ..................................................................................... 8

Definition of Terms .......................................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................... 12

Constructionism ............................................................................................................... 12

Computers in Constructionism ................................................................................. 15

Role of Teachers and Students in Constructionism .................................................. 16

The Role of Resources ............................................................................................. 17

Theoretical Framework for Learning by Game Design ................................................... 18

Planning .................................................................................................................... 19

Artifact Design ......................................................................................................... 20

Testing ...................................................................................................................... 23

Feedback................................................................................................................... 24

Sharing and Collaboration ........................................................................................ 25

Academic Achievement and Assessment ......................................................................... 27

Interest toward Computer Science ................................................................................... 29

Environmental Education ................................................................................................. 33

Researcher Beliefs and Biases in This Study ................................................................... 40

CHAPTER 3 METHOD .......................................................................................................... 42

Research Site and Participants ......................................................................................... 42

Research Design ............................................................................................................... 43

Class Setting ............................................................................................................. 43

Game Design Phases ........................................................................................................ 44

Planning .................................................................................................................... 44

Design ...................................................................................................................... 45

Sharing and Testing .................................................................................................. 46

Resources ................................................................................................................. 47

Study Procedures .............................................................................................................. 47

Game Design Software .................................................................................................... 52

Data Sources and Instruments .......................................................................................... 58

Data Analysis ................................................................................................................... 62

CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................ 67
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RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 67

Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 67

I. Overview of the participants and overall game characteristics .......................... 68

Students Computing and Gaming Background ........................................................ 68

Students’ Prior Experience with Scratch and Games ............................................... 72
II. Research Question 1: What game design characteristics and programming concepts do

students use as they work with Scratch to program their games? ........................... 74

Game Characteristics ................................................................................................ 74

Programming Concepts in the Students’ Games ...................................................... 89

Game Design Interests and Computer Enjoyment ................................................... 98
III. Research Question 2: How did students represent and revise environmental science

concepts throughout the design process? ................................................................. 103

Achievement in Environmental Knowledge and Environmental Awareness .......... 103
IV. Research Question 3: How do students share knowledge, strategies, and projects for

game design? ............................................................................................................ 122

Structured Collaboration .......................................................................................... 123

Unstructured Collaborations .................................................................................... 126

Sharing projects ........................................................................................................ 133

A Single Case ................................................................................................................... 139

CHAPTER 5 ............................................................................................................................ 144

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ............................................................. 144

Summary and Discussion for Research Question 1 ......................................................... 144

Summary and Discussion for Research Question 2 ......................................................... 149

Summary and Discussion for Research Question 3 ......................................................... 152

Implications of Instructional Design ................................................................................ 155

Implications for Classrooms ............................................................................................ 160

Game Design: A Dynamic Learning Process ................................................................... 161

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 163

Future Studies .................................................................................................................. 165

Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 167

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 169

APPENDIXES ......................................................................................................................... 185

APPENDIX A .................................................................................................................. 185

Interview Protocol ............................................................................................................ 185

APPENDIX B .................................................................................................................. 188

Students’ Attitudes toward Game Design and Computing .............................................. 188

APPENDIX C .................................................................................................................. 191

Environmental Knowledge Test ....................................................................................... 191

APPENDIX D .................................................................................................................. 195

Environmental Awareness Questionnaire ........................................................................ 195

APPENDIX E .................................................................................................................. 198
Questionnaire for the 2nd Grade Testing........................................................................... 198

APPENDIX F ................................................................................................................... 200

Peer Evaluation Questions and Responses ....................................................................... 200
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3-1: Study Procedures. ....................................................................................... 54
Table 3-2: The summary of data analysis .................................................................... 71
Table 4-1: The participants’ background experiences ……………………….……….75
Table 4-2: Students’ responses for some Scratch commands ……………….…….... 78
Table 4-3: A summary of design characteristics of the students’ games …….……….91
Table 4-4: Students’ average use of different Scratch programming concepts …..…. 98
Table 4-5: Gender differences in use of programming concepts over time ………... 104
Table 4-6: Gender differences in game design interest, computer importance and computer
enjoyment …………………………………………………………………………... 106
Table 4-7: The students grading based on the teacher rubric ………………………..112
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2-1: The constructionist framework . ............................................................... 21
Figure 3-1: Comparison of Scratch coding and PHP coding. ...................................... 59
Figure 3-2: A screenshot of Scratch software . ............................................................ 60
Figure 3-3: A screenshot of MyLingua. ....................................................................... 63
Figure 4-1: A sample student game with different game characteristics …………….81
Figure 4-2: The classification of Scratch programming concepts ……….………..…96
Figure 4-3: A sample script panel from a student’s game ………………….……….97
Figure 4-4: The change in total programming concepts use by the students ……….101
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express profound appreciation and deep regards for my
adviser, Dr. Susan Land. Her wisdom, professional expertise, expert guidance, and generous
contributions of time throughout the process of this thesis have strongly affected my evolution as
a researcher.
I want to thank Dr. Brian Smith for his critical feedbacks and suggestions thorough my
research experiences with game design which all were powerful and helpful ideas. I also want to
thank Dr. Simon Hooper and Dr. Priya Sharma for their constructive feedbacks and
encouragements for the study.
I am sincerely grateful to Mr. B and Mr. Geff, the 5th grade teachers, and Dr. Tarman, the
principal, for allowing me to conduct my study in their classrooms. Many thanks especially go to
the students at 5th grade at Young Scholars who performed great during the study. I cannot list
their names for their privacy, but they know who they are. Thank you all. Special thanks also go
to my other colleagues at the school and friends around for their supports.
I would like to express my appreciation for Aziz Yoldasev for his thoughtful ideas,
feedbacks, and suggestions with different approaches. My sincere appreciations also go to my
uncle, Dr. Sitki Baytak, for his encouragement and guidance throughout my education.
Throughout the duration of this research, I have been especially appreciative and thankful
to my beloved wife, Ayşegül, for her unconditional support and patient acceptance of my time
devoted to study.
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Gaming has traditionally been a part of children’s everyday life as a method of play.
From hide and seek in the backyard and board games indoor to Atari and PacMan games in
arcades to sports simulations on the Wii platform in homes, gaming has captured the interest of
children, adults, and educators alike. In fact, the prevalence of commercial games that are
directed toward young, elementary-aged children has risen in recent years. These include web-
based games like Webkinz World that extend the play space for purchased animal toys to a virtual
space or portable game platforms such as the Nintendo DS. More than 3.6 million combined
gaming systems were sold in November of 2008, with gaming markets overall experiencing
growth of 11 percent in 2008 (npd.com, 2009). The Wii and Nintendo DS, which were the most
purchased, set new hardware sales records.
Given the prominence of such entertainment games for young children, interest has been
correspondingly generated in the educational potential of computer games for classroom use
(Dickey, 2005; Kafai, 2006). As Squire et al. (2005) stated, new technologies and games are
powerful social, cultural, and technological forces that educators cannot ignore. Gee (2005)
claimed that games are a hub to combine learning that requires effort includes fun, a
characteristic rarely present in education settings. Gaming, it is argued, holds potential for
learning as a means to promote the following: (a) engagement of learners, (b) promotion of
active learning, (c) enhancement of learning and understanding of complex subject matter, and
(d) fostering of collaboration among learners (Ke, 2008).