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Pedagogy, Partnership, and Collaboration: A Longitudinal, Empirical Study of Serious Educational Gameplay in Secondary Biology Classrooms

ABSTRACT: The use of serious educational games has the potential to increase student learning outcomes in science education by providing students with opportunities to explore phenomena in ways that vary from traditional instruction; yet, empirical research to support this assertion is limited. This study aimed to explore deeply what learning gains were associated with the use of three serious educational games (SEGs) created for use in secondary biology classrooms that partner teachers implemented during a 2-week curriculum unit. This longitudinal, mixed method study includes a control year, in which we examined how six highly qualified teachers taught students (n = 407) a 2-week curriculum unit addressing cellular biology without the SEGs, followed by 2 years in which the teachers integrated the SEGs into the curriculum unit with students (n =871). Data were collected from multiple sources, including a validated content pre- and post-test measure, embedded gameplay data, participant observation, teacher interviews, and focus groups. Quantitative findings showed significant learning gains associated with students who experienced the game condition during year 2, when compared with the control condition. During the replication year (year 3), learning gains increased again, compared with year two. Although the SEGs did not change between years 2 and 3, teachers were provided real-time access to students’ performance during gameplay. Thematic analysis of observation notes, teacher interviews, and student performance in-game identified four affordances teachers identified related to the use of serious educational games in their classrooms and the extended partnership model employed. Implications for researchers and game designers are discussed.

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The online version of this article (10.1007/s10956-020-09868-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

SUBMITTER: Hodges G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7781415 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:In primary health care, multi-stakeholder partnerships between clinicians, policy makers, academic representatives and other stakeholders to improve service delivery are becoming more common. Literature on processes and approaches that enhance partnership effectiveness is growing. However, evidence on the performance of the measures of partnership functioning and the achievement of desired outcomes is still limited, due to the field's definitional ambiguity and the challenges inherent in measuring complex and evolving collaborative processes. Reliable measures are needed for external or self-assessment of partnership functioning, as intermediate steps in the achievement of desired outcomes. We adapted the Partnership Self-Assessment Tool (PSAT) and distributed it to multiple stakeholders within five partnerships in Canada and Australia. The instrument contained a number of partnership functioning sub-scales. New sub-scales were developed for the domains of communication and external environment. Partnership synergy was assessed using modified Partnership Synergy Processes and Partnership Synergy Outcomes sub-scales, and a combined Partnership Synergy scale. Ranking by partnership scores was compared with independent ranks based on a qualitative evaluation of the partnerships' development. 55 (90%) questionnaires were returned. Our results indicate that the instrument was capable of discriminating between different levels of dimensions of partnership functioning and partnership synergy even in a limited sample. The sub-scales were sufficiently reliable to have the capacity to discriminate between individuals, and between partnerships. There was negligible difference in the correlations between different partnership functioning dimensions and Partnership Synergy sub-scales. The Communication and External Environment sub-scales did not perform well metrically. The adapted partnership assessment tool is suitable for assessing the achievement of partnership synergy and specific indicators of partnership functioning. Further development of Communication and External Environment sub-scales is warranted. The instrument could be applied to assess internal partnership performance on key indicators across settings, in order to determine if the collaborative process is working well.

Dataset Information

Pedagogy, Partnership, and Collaboration: A Longitudinal, Empirical Study of Serious Educational Gameplay in Secondary Biology Classrooms

Electronic supplementary material

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