In this paper, we discuss the need for new approaches to research regarding coding to support students in developing practices in computational thinking, such as abstraction and decomposition, in multidisciplinary contexts. We explore students' activities with a tool integrating constructionist textual programming activity with game-based learning…

Learning with digital games has gained considerable popularity. While digital game-based learning has the potential to improve learners' language learning achievement, engagement and motivation, there still exists a gap when it comes to providing effective feedback to learners within these games. Conventional digital games generally provide…

Using Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" as inspiration, this paper presents a Frankenstein-themed transmedia storytelling experience, which encompasses simple hands-on activities and an online narrative experience that allows students to model scientific work and engage in various science activities. The study aimed to test whether students…

Although there is wide rhetoric that programming should be learnt by all as an element of computational thinking (CT), in practice, it is mostly implemented narrowly as an end in itself consisting of routine practice and traditional testing of the ability to code. This paper discusses a way in which programming could be seen through a wider…

The benefits of using digital games in the curriculum are well documented in literature. Most teachers who use digital games use short-form drill-and-practice learning games rather than the kinds of games most students would choose to play in their free time. The use of more interactive, immersive digital games (IDGs) in classrooms tends to be…

Currently there are few pedagogical models available for mathematics teachers who are interested in digital game-based learning. The Play Curricular-activity Reflection and Discussion (PCaRD) model attempts to address this, but lacks the needed exploratory research on its implementation within formal mathematics classrooms. Through the use of…

Recent years have seen a surge of calls for personalization of education. Automatised adaptivity in serious games has been advocated as a potential instantiation of such calls. Yet little is known about the extent to which personalised learning through automatised adaptivity poses an advantage for language learning over generalised teacher-led…

This paper explores the relationship between digital games and learning along the continuum from formal to informal learning. Games are an increasingly important component of our learning ecologies but their potential can prove difficult to fully harness due to the downsides of gaming in informal contexts and to the limitations games can present…

Gamified Authentic Mobile Enquiry in Society (GAMES) is a GPS-supported mobile application for gamifying social enquiry learning in outdoor environments. Teachers are always the "educational innovation gatekeepers" in schools. This paper reports on a 3-year study in which the Stages of Concern model was employed as a quantitative…

The application of game-based learning adds play into educational and instructional contexts. Even though there is a lack of standard methodologies or formulaic frameworks to better inform game-based intervention development, there exist scientific and empirical studies that can serve as benchmarks for establishing scientific validity in terms of…

Our work is set against the backdrop of the pervasive discussion of harnessing online games to provide students with new constructivist learning opportunities. Upon the theoretical foundation, we have developed Virtual Interactive Student-Oriented Learning Environment (VISOLE), a teaching framework for implementing constructivist online game-based…

This study examined the effects of a teacher-delivered intervention with online mathematics mini-games on special education students' multiplicative reasoning ability (multiplication and division). The games involved declarative, procedural, as well as conceptual knowledge of multiplicative relations, and were accompanied with teacher-led lessons…

The current research is conducted in the context of Second Life (SL) users in Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research uses the Symbolic Interactionism Theory (SIT), a social science based theory as theoretical framework to underpin it and help inform the research. The overriding purpose is to analyze evidence of…

According to different authors, computer games not only teach contents and skills, but also do so in a more efficient manner, allowing long-lasting learning. However, there is still little consensus on this matter as different studies put their educational benefits into question, especially when used without instructional support. An empirical…

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience behavioural and learning problems at home and at school, as well as a lack of self-control in their lives. We can take advantage of the evolution of new technologies to develop applications with the aim of enhancing and stimulating the learning process of children with ADHD.…