Ready Coder One: Collaborative Game Design-Based Learning on Gifted Fourth Graders’ 21st Century Skills

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to describe the impact of digital game building on fourth grade gifted and talented students’ problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration skills. Increasingly, there has been a call to involve students in real-world experiences through projects that explore authentic issues using technology. Game design-based learning with its unique set of affordances may offer a path to integrating technology, computer science education, creativity, and problem-solving. Increasingly, the ability to create rather than just consume technology has gained attention linking creativity and collaboration to using coding language. In this study, data collection included student reflection journals, classroom observations, classroom video recordings, a focus group interview, and students’ games. Participants came from two GT classes ( n = 45). Qualitative analysis identified five themes: overcoming challenges of group work, developing a culture of collaboration, creating narrative, and connecting science, problem-solving in Scratch’s coding environment, and reflecting on learning. Findings indicated involving gifted students in game design-based learning in science had a positive impact on student perceptions of problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration.

Analyzing the impact of collaborative learning approach on grade six students’ mathematics achievement and attitude towards mathematics

“…Some of the potential innovative teaching methods include flipped classroom approach (Bishop & Verleger, 2013), collaborative learning (Hossain & Tarmizi, 2013;Vogel et al, 2016), project-based learning (Almazroui, 2023, p. 125-136), gamification (Deterding et al, 2011), adaptive learning systems (Brusilovsky et al, 2004), storytelling in math (Ginsburg, 2009), etc. Among all, collaborative learning, characterized by student interaction, cooperative problem-solving, and shared knowledge construction, has garnered substantial attention within the field of educational research as an innovative and promising pedagogical approach to improve students' math achievement and nurturing their positive attitudes towards mathematics (Agwu & Nmadu, 2023;Capar & Tarim, 2015;Hoang et al, 2023;Kibirige & Lehong, 2016;Lahann & Lambdin, 2014;O'Grady-Jones & Grant, 2023;Olanrewaju, 2019;Rao et al, 2020).…”