Abstract
Digital games have demonstrated great potential for supporting students’ learning across disciplines. But integrating games into instruction is challenging and requires teachers to shift instructional practices. One factor that contributes to the successful use of games in a classroom is teachers’ experience implementing the technologies. But how does experience with a game actually affect teacher practice? We explored these issues by comparing years 1 and 2 of a middle-school mathematics teacher’s use of Boone’s Meadow, a digital problem-solving game around ratio and proportion, in her classroom. While the two implementations were quite similar, the teacher was able to give more problem solving agency to students and use students’ gameplay time much more productively in the second year, both for mathematical engagement and for immersing students in the narrative of the game. Findings point to the importance of considering the teacher’s role when designing digital games for learning.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Transcription conventions use brackets and italics to record [gestures, actions, or descriptions of what’s going on]. Ellipses indicate pauses of any length. Students are labeled as student, without a name, to keep their identities private and because Ms. Lynn is the focus of analysis.
References
Barab, S. A., Gresalfi, M., & Ingram-Goble, A. (2010). Transformational play: Using games to position person, content, and context. Educational Researcher, 39(7), 525–536.
Barab, S. A., Thomas, M., Dodge, T., Carteaux, R., & Tuzun, H. (2005). Making learning fun: Quest Atlantis, a game without guns. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(1), 86–107.
Barab, S., Zuiker, S., Warren, S., Hickey, D., Ingram-Goble, A., Kwon, E. J., et al. (2007). Situationally embodied curriculum: Relating formalisms and contexts. Science Education, 91(5), 750–782.
Bell, A., & Gresalfi, M. (in press). The role of a digital game in a classroom ecology: Exploring teaching using videogames. In M. Young & S. Slota (Eds.), Exploding the castle. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Boaler, J. (2002). The development of disciplinary relationships: Knowledge, practice and identity in mathematics classrooms. For the Learning of Mathematics, 22(1), 42–47.
Bransford, J., Zech, L., Schwarz, D., Barron, B., & Vye, N. (2000). Designs for environments that invite and sustain mathematical thinking. In P. Cobb, E. Yackel & K. McClain (Eds.), Symbolizing and communicating in mathematics classrooms (pp. 275–324). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Clarke, J., & Dede, C. (2009). Design for scalability: A case study of the River City curriculum. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18(4), 353–365.
Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. (1997). The Jasper project: Lessons in curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Dickey, M. D. (2007). Game design and learning: A conjectural analysis of how massively multiple online role-playing games (MMORPGs) foster intrinsic motivation. Educational Technology Research and Development, 55(3), 253–273.
Ertmer, P. A. (2005). Teacher pedagogical beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for technology integration? Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 25–39.
Ertmer, P. A., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T. (2010). Teacher technology change: How knowledge, confidence, beliefs, and culture intersect. Journal of research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 255–284.
Ertmer, P. A., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Sadik, O., Sendurur, E., & Sendurur, P. (2012). Teacher beliefs and technology integration practices: A critical relationship. Computers & Education, 59(2), 423–435.
Ertmer, P. A., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., & Tondeur, J. (2014). Teachers’ beliefs and uses of technology to support 21st-century teaching and learning. In H. Fives & M. Gregoire Gill (Eds.), International handbook of research on teachers’ beliefs (pp. 403–418). New York: Routledge.
Ertmer, P. A., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A., & York, C. S. (2006). Exemplary technology-using teachers: Perceptions of factors influencing success. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 23(2), 55–61.
Fishman, B., Riconscente, M., Snider, R., Tsai, T., & Plass, J. (2014). Empowering educators: Supporting student progress in the classroom with digital games. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Retrieved from http://gamesandlearning.umich.edu/agames.
Garris, R., Ahlers, R., & Driskell, J. E. (2002). Games, motivation, and learning: A research and practice model. Simulation & gaming, 33(4), 441–467.
Greeno, J. G. (1991). Number sense as situated knowing in a conceptual domain. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 22(1), 170–218.
Greeno, J. G., & Gresalfi, M. S. (2008). Opportunities to learn in practice and identity. In P. A. Moss, D. C. Pullin, J. P. Gee, E. H. Haertel & L. J. Young (Eds.), Assessment, equity, and opportunity to learn (pp. 170–199). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gresalfi, M. S. (2015). Designing to support critical engagement with statistics. ZDM, 47(6), 933–946.
Gresalfi, M., & Barab, S. (2011). Learning for a reason: Supporting forms of engagement by designing tasks and orchestrating environments. Theory into Practice, 50(4), 300–310.
Gresalfi, M. S., & Barnes, J. (2016). Designing feedback in an immersive videogame: Supporting student mathematical engagement. Educational Technology Research and Development, 64(1), 65–86.
Lamon, S. J. (2012). Teaching fractions and ratios for understanding: Essential content knowledge and instructional strategies for teachers (3rd Edn.). New York: Routledge.
Lave, J., Murtaugh, M., & de la Rocha, O. (1984). The dialectic of arithmetic in grocery shopping. In B. Rogoff & J. Lave (Eds.), Everyday cognition: Its development in social context (pp. 67–94). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Lepper, M. R., & Malone, T. W. (1987). Intrinsic motivation and instructional effectiveness in computer-based education. Aptitude, learning, and instruction, 3, 255–286.
Lobato, J., Ellis, A., & Zbiek, R. (2010). Developing essential understanding of ratios, proportions, and proportional reasoning for teaching mathematics: Grades 6–8. Reston: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Mayer, R. E., & Johnson, C. I. (2010). Adding instructional features that promote learning in a game-like environment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 42(3), 241–265.
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. The Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054.
Mumtaz, S. (2000). Factors affecting teachers’ use of information and communications technology: A review of the literature. Journal of information technology for teacher education, 9(3), 319–342.
Nelson, B. C. (2007). Exploring the use of individualized, reflective guidance in an educational multi-user virtual environment. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 16(1), 83–97.
Pareto, L., Arvemo, T., Dahl, Y., Haake, M., & Gulz, A. (2011). A teachable-agent arithmetic game’s effects on mathematics understanding, attitude and self-efficacy. In S. Lajoie & M. Vivet (Eds.), Artificial intelligence in education (pp. 247–255). Berlin: Springer.
Penuel, W. R. (2006). Implementation and effects of one-to-one computing initiatives: A research synthesis. Journal of research on technology in education, 38(3), 329–348.
Rieber, L. P. (1996). Seriously considering play: Designing interactive learning environments based on the blending of microworlds, simulations, and games. Educational Technology Research and Development, 44(2), 43–58.
Schwartz, D. L., Chase, C. C., Oppezzo, M. A., & Chin, D. B. (2011). Practicing versus inventing with contrasting cases: The effects of telling first on learning and transfer. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(4), 759.
Sheingold, K., & Hadley, M. (1990). Accomplished teachers: Integrating computers into classroom practice. New York: Center for Technology in Education.
Squire, K. (2006). From content to context: Videogames as designed experience. Educational researcher, 35(8), 19–29.
Straub, E. T. (2009). Understanding technology adoption: Theory and future directions for informal learning. Review of educational research, 79(2), 625–649.
Takeuchi, L. M., & Vaala, S. (2014). Level up learning: A national survey on teaching with digital games. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.
Van Haneghan, J. P., & Stofflett, R. T. (1995). Implementing problem solving technology into classrooms: Four case studies of teachers. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 3(1), 57–80.
Van Haneghan, J. P., Barron, L., Young, M., Williams, S., Vye, N., & Bransford, J. (1992). The Jasper series: An experiment with new ways to enhance mathematical thinking. In D. F. Halpern (Ed.), Enhancing thinking skills in the sciences and mathematics (pp. 15–38). Hillsdale: Lawerence Erlbaum Associates.
Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1252380. The authors are grateful for Isaac Nichols, Panchompoo Wisittanawat, and Katherine Chapman and their work on this project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bell, A., Gresalfi, M. Teaching with Videogames: How Experience Impacts Classroom Integration. Tech Know Learn 22, 513–526 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-017-9306-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-017-9306-3