Characteristics of Teacher-Student Interaction in the Educational Gaming Context

• In Event: Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Pedagogical Boundaries: Examining Issues of Instruction, Voice, and Peer Interactions of Students and Families

Abstract

　　　　Teachers have looked to educational games as a way of engaging students in academic practice. As few studies have investigated the teacher-student interactions that mediate learning in educational games, there is little description of the interactions that support learning with educational games. This study examined the characteristics of classroom interaction between teachers and student-groups during educational game-play. The qualitative methodological design was informed, in part, by linguistic and interactional discourse analysis and employed grounded theory techniques to analyze interaction in four third-grade classrooms. The findings from this study indicated a sustained focus on game-related procedure, as opposed to the content goals of the lesson, not only at the beginning of game-play, but throughout the activity.

Authors

• Kristen J Shanahan, Edinboro University

• Tonya R. Moon, University of Virginia

• Catherine M. Brighton, University of Virginia

• Christine Patricia Trinter, Virginia Commonwealth University