Enhancing Student Affect From Multi-Classroom Simulation Games via Teacher Professional Development

Jeremy Riel,Kimberly A Lawless

doi:10.4018/ijgcms.20210101.oa3

Abstract

Educational simulations often require players to maintain a high degree of engagement for play in the simulation to continue. Student motivation and engagement is tied to affective factors, such as interest and self-efficacy. As such, game designs and teachers who implement them should promote student interest and self-efficacy in play. In this study, a responsive online professional development (ROPD) program was provided to teachers as they implemented a multi-classroom socio-scientific simulation game for middle school social studies classrooms called GlobalEd 2. A series of ANOVAs revealed that student affect toward the game and its content, including student interest and self-efficacy, was highest when their teachers likewise had a high degree of participation in the ROPD program. This evidence demonstrates the importance that ongoing implementation supports can have in classroom-based simulations and serious games and the benefits of ROPD in furthering the impact of simulation games.

Highlights

Simulations and serious games have been repeatedly demonstrated as useful and highly engaging learning activities when used in a classroom setting (Boyle et al, 2016; Connoly et al, 2012; Young et al, 2012; Vlachopoulos & Makri, 2017)
A series of ANOVAs revealed that student affect toward the game and its content, including student interest and selfefficacy, was highest when their teachers likewise had a high degree of participation in the responsive online professional development (ROPD) program
ROPD programs like that of the GE2 ROPD are intended to support teachers’ implementation of simulations in real time, as well as to help teachers maintain a high level of engagement with the simulation

Summary

Introduction

Simulations and serious games have been repeatedly demonstrated as useful and highly engaging learning activities when used in a classroom setting (Boyle et al, 2016; Connoly et al, 2012; Young et al, 2012; Vlachopoulos & Makri, 2017). As teachers are the facilitators of simulations with students, it is important from a design standpoint that teachers implement simulations in ways that adhere to the intentions of the designers and align with the underlying learning principles upon which the simulation has been designed This is not to say that teachers should not flexibly implement or adapt simulations to meet the specific needs of their classrooms. Meeting students’ affective needs while playing a student-centered game or simulation is a critical challenge for any teacher implementing such activities, as students who are not engaged with a simulation or student-centered environment, it will likely have little to no effect (Ertmer & Simons, 2006; Jonassen, 2009; Lamb, Anetta, Firestone, & Etopio, 2018; Strobel & van Barneveld, 2009)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion