Using an Educational Game to Improve Science Vocabulary and Reasoning of Middle School Students

• In Event: Learner Engagement and Success in Instructional Technology

Abstract

Middle school students played a short, online educational game (Ready, Set, Rotten!) which introduced matter cycling in mesic and xeric ecosystems. Students then reasoned about the factors that may influence decomposition. Students’ responses were analyzed for science vocabulary and number/accuracy of idea units. Even without direct instruction on the mechanisms of decomposition, analyses showed significant increases in the use of science vocabulary by students who played the game compared to students in business-as-usual classrooms. Further, students who played the educational game produced significantly more idea units during reasoning, with greater scientific accuracy. This finding suggests that game-based learning can implicitly support novel vocabulary production and the development of scientific reasoning.

Authors

• Justine Hampton, University of Utah

• Kirsten Butcher, University of Utah