Video game as an educational tool in primary school applying steam methodology

Abstract

In recent years, pedagogical practices in Latin America have had to migrate prematurely towards digitalization, but in the absence of firm foundations, learning results have been unsatisfactory. Usually, the tools used by teachers are not practical and attractive, especially for students of early ages. The project deals with the development of an educational RPG (role-playing game) video game which contains different levels that group the learning areas included in the STEAM methodology (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) whose story is based on the prevention of covid-19 by applying concepts learned within the respective school curriculum. Different strategies were implemented, such as gamification, formative process and feedback, which allow the deployment of skills, abilities and competencies that facilitate children to adjust interactively to their learning environments. For the validation of the video game, a checklist was made with the most important dimensions of an educational video game, which was solved by the teacher in charge and a survey was applied to the children to know their level of satisfaction with respect to the game and the current education. Finally, in accordance with the good results, it is evident that this type of action requires further encouragement for more in-depth research with multidisciplinary teams in order to implement these didactic tools in the curricula of educational institutions.