The purpose of this study is to find out how the design class using GBL(game-based learning) affects the learning flow of first-year middle school students. The study presents a new teaching direction that applies game-based learning method in the ar...
The purpose of this study is to find out how the design class using GBL(game-based learning) affects the learning flow of first-year middle school students. The study presents a new teaching direction that applies game-based learning method in the art class, using Minecraft Educational edition.
The research methods and procedures are as follows. First, explore the concepts and characteristics of the Learning Flow, GBL, and eco-friendly design theories by researching precedented studies. Second, analyze the capabilities of art classes based on the 2015 revised art curriculum and derive the need for eco-friendly design classes.
Third, after selecting the most appropriate textbook for the study among the five textbooks which contain lessons on eco-friendly design, set the lesson theme “Let’s Create an Eco-friendly School”. Fourth, design a course which consists of 6 lessons on eco-friendly school design based on Minecraft education editon. Then draw up general guidance and detailed guidance for the classes. Fifth, in order to implement the research, conduct a single group pre- and post-examination on student learning flow as well as class satisfaction survey, targeting 24 first-year art club students from H Middle School located in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. Sixth, conduct Paired t-test and Wilconxin signed- rank test on pre-and post-collected learning flow test paper by using SPSS(statistical Package for Social Science) ver 21.0 and derive meaningful results which shows increase in average points across all sub-regions of flow degree in learning.
In conclusion, the difference between the pre- and post-mortem means proves to have increased, indicating that the overall learning flow has changed significantly within 5% of the significance level. In specific, it has been confirmed that learning flow increases in all nine sub-regions, including challenge-skills balance, action-awareness merging, clear goals, unambiguous feedback, concentration on the task at hand, sense of control, loss of self-consciousness, transformation of time.
In addition, the frequency of learning satisfaction analysis showes that students are all satisfied in four higher areas: 'awareness and interest in eco-friendly design', 'perception of game-based learning', 'change of perception of learning immersion', and 'quality and satisfaction of teaching'. Regarding the specific nine sub-questions, the response rate of “a little bit yes” and “very yes” in eight questions accounts for 80% or more, confirming that overall satisfaction of the art class using game-based learning is high. Also, the answers on open-ended question showes that students were actively immersed in the class as they took interest in the GBL, increased the understanding in eco-friendly design and had positive interactions with friends in cooperative learning environment.
Summing up these findings, it can be concluded that design classes based on game-based learning have a positive impact on improving learning flow of first grade middle school students.
Since the study was conducted on a small group of students paricipating in a school art club in a specific local area, limits exist in generalizing the results due to the low number of study samples. Thus, subsequent studies based on diverse and large number of samples are required for generalization. In addition, since the study was conducted aganist only the first grade middle school students, additional research including differing grades should be conducted in order to actively utilize GBL in school learning environment. Moreover, as the study was implemented during the COVID-19 period, students were given extra time to voluntarily produce their works at home during the home-schooling week. Thus in full time school classes, more than 6 lesson times would be needed to successfully finish the course.
Consequently, to implement GBL in real life art classes in this rapidly changing world, active follow-up studies are expected to continue. In the times to come, this study will hopefully contribute in enhancing the applicability of game-based learning in the art subject.