Preservice Classroom Teachers' Opinions on Use of Educational Games in Instructions of Primary School Courses

Abstract

This study aimed to examine preservice classroom teachers’ opinions on how educational games improve their teaching skills. In accordance with this purpose, the qualitative research design was employed. The study group was composed of 60 preservice teachers attending the Department of Primary Education in the Faculty of Education at a state university in the spring term of the 2017/2018 academic year and who took the physical education and game teaching course. A semi-structured, open-ended question form prepared in accordance with the purpose of the research and letters were used as the data collection instruments. Answers of the preservice teachers to the open-ended questions were scanned as images and transferred into digital medium. Next, the obtained data were subjected to a content analysis with the MAXQDA 12 qualitative data analysis software and the data products were analyzed with the “data coding” technique. The data obtained from the preservice teachers with letters were analyzed by both researchers descriptively. The findings achieved in the analysis were utilized to reinforce the findings on themes and codes achieved in the analysis of the data obtained with the semi-structured interview forms. It was concluded that educational games improved the preservice classroom teachers’ competencies of planning and implementing the use of games in the instruction of primary school course attainments. It was also concluded in the study that the participants had been very little aware of educational games’ definition and their contributions to student learning before the application and their awareness increased after the application.