PLAYING GAMES TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF VISUOSPATIAL ABILITIES
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Published:
May 24, 2019
Keywords:
Game Based Learning; Logical Thinking, Visuospatial Abilities, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education, Digital Games, Educational Technology, Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL)
Main Article Content
Abstract
An experiment is presented in which several digital entertainment games were selected and used with primary school students to foster the development of visuospatial skills. The experiment is part of a research strand in that investigating whether and how game based activities foster basic skills needed for STEM studies. According to our initial hypothesis, training visuospatial skills via digital gameplay should have a positive impact on the students’ school results in math, measured with a standardised test. Results confirmed the hypothesis: students who systematically played the games as part of their school activities reached statistically better results in maths when compared to others from the same school who simply followed the normal school activities. The project has also yielded indications for future research, showing that students are much more interested and involved in those activities that are more creative and leave then more freedom.
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Articles - Special Issue
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Piaget, J. (1952). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. New York, NY, USA: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.
Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., Rusk, N., Eastmond, E., Brennan, K.,...& Kafai, Y. (2009). Scratch: programming for all. Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 60-67. doi: 10.1145/1592761.1592779
Rose, F. D., Attree, E. A., Brooks, B. M., Parslow, D. M., & Penn, P. R. (2000). Training in virtual environments: transfer to real world tasks and equivalence to real task training. Ergonomics, 43(4), 494-511.
Sinclair, N., & Bruce, C. D. (2015). New opportunities in geometry education at the primary school. ZDM, 47(3), 319-329.
Surtees, A. D. R., Apperly, I. A., & Samson, D. (2013). The use of embodied self-rotation for visual and spatial perspective-taking. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 698. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00698
Uttal, D. H., & Cohen, C. A. (2012). Spatial thinking and STEM education: When, why, and how?. In Psychology of Learning and Motivation (Vol. 57, pp. 147-181). Academic Press.
Uttal, D. H., Meadow, N. G., Tipton, E., Hand, L. L., Alden, A. R., Warren, C., & Newcombe, N. S. (2013). The malleability of spatial skills: A meta-analysis of training studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139(2), 352. doi:10.1037/a0028446
Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
Wai, J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Spatial ability for STEM domains: Aligning over 50 years of cumulative psychological knowledge solidifies its importance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(4), 817-835. doi: 10.1037/a0016127
Bednarz, R. S., & Lee, J. (2011). The components of spatial thinking: empirical evidence. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 21, 103-107. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.07.048
Bottino, R., Caponetto, I, Ott, M., & Tavella, M. (2015). Giochi logici a scuola: esperienze e riflessioni. Vittorio Midoro (a cura di), La scuola ai tempi del digitale, 98-117. Milano, IT: Franco Angeli.
Bottino, R., Caponetto, I., Ott, M., & Tavella, M. (2016). Verificare e stimolare le abilità di ragionamento con i giochi digitali. Form@ re, 16(1). Retrieved from https://www.itd.cnr.it/download/Articolo-Bottino-Caponetto-Ott-Tavella.pdf
Bottino, R., Ott, M., & Tavella, M. (2014). Serious gaming at school: reflections on students' performance, engagement and motivation. International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL), 4(1), 21-36. doi: 10.4018/IJGBL.2014010102
Bottino, R., & Ott, M. (2006). Mind games, reasoning skills, and the primary school curriculum. Learning, Media and Technology, 31(4), 359-375. doi: 10.1080/17439880601022981
Carlisle, D., Tyson, J., & Nieswandt, M. (2015). Fostering spatial skill acquisition by general chemistry students. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 16(3), 478-517. doi: 10.1039/C4RP00228H
Castoldi, M. (2014). Capire le prove INVALSI. Roma, IT: Carocci.
Cerini, G. (2012). Indicazioni nazionali per il curricolo della scuola dell'infanzia e del primo ciclo d'istruzione. Annali della Pubblica Istruzione, Numero Speciale. Retrieved from http://www.indicazioninazionali.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Indicazioni_Annali_Definitivo.pdf
Freina, L., & Bottino, R. (2016). A visual thinking skills training in support of STEM education. In T. Connolly & Liz Boyle (Eds.), Proceeding of the 10th European Conference on Games Based Learning. The University of the West of Scotland, Paisly, Scotland, 6/7 October 2016 (pp. 224-231). Paisly, Scotland, UK: UWS.
Freina, L., & Bottino, R. (2018). Visuospatial abilities training with digital games in a primary school. International Journal of Serious Games, 5(3), 23 - 35. doi: 10.17083/ijsg.v5i3.240
Freina, L., Bottino, R., Ferlino, L., & Tavella, M. (2017). Training of spatial abilities with digital games: impact on mathematics performance of primary school students. In João Dias, Pedro A. Santos, & Remco C. Veltkamp (Eds.), 6th International Conference GALA 2017, 5-7 December, Lisbon, Portugal, Proceedings (pp. 25-40). Cham, CH: Springer Int.
Freina, L., Bottino, R., Tavella, M., & Chiorri, C. (2017). Evaluation of visuospatial perspective taking skills using a digital game with different levels of immersion. International Journal of Serious Games, 4(3), 31-43.
Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66-78. doi: 10.1037/a0034857
Jennett, C., Cox, A. L., Cairns, P., Dhoparee, S., Epps, A., Tijs, T., & Walton, A. (2008). Measuring and defining the experience of immersion in games. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 66(9), 641-661. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2008.04.004
Kessler, K., & Rutherford, H. (2010). The two forms of visuo-spatial perspective taking are differently embodied and subserve different spatial prepositions. Frontiers in Psychology, 1, 213. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00213
Li, Y., & Geary, D. C. (2017, February 13). Children’s visuospatial memory predicts mathematics achievement through early adolescence. PLOS ONE, 12(2). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172046
Lucangeli, D., Cornoldi, C., & Bellina, M. (2012). AC-MT 6-11. Test di valutazione delle abilità di calcolo e soluzione dei problemi. Gruppo MT. Con CD-ROM. Roma, Trento, IT: Edizioni Erickson.
Newcombe, N. (1989). The development of spatial perspective taking. In H.W. Reese (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior (Vol. 22, pp.203-247). San Diego, CA, USA: Academic Press.
Newcombe, N. S., & Frick, A. (2010). Early education for spatial intelligence: why, what, and how. mind, brain, and education, 4(3), 102-111.
Piaget, J. (1952). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. New York, NY, USA: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.
Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., Rusk, N., Eastmond, E., Brennan, K.,...& Kafai, Y. (2009). Scratch: programming for all. Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 60-67. doi: 10.1145/1592761.1592779
Rose, F. D., Attree, E. A., Brooks, B. M., Parslow, D. M., & Penn, P. R. (2000). Training in virtual environments: transfer to real world tasks and equivalence to real task training. Ergonomics, 43(4), 494-511.
Sinclair, N., & Bruce, C. D. (2015). New opportunities in geometry education at the primary school. ZDM, 47(3), 319-329.
Surtees, A. D. R., Apperly, I. A., & Samson, D. (2013). The use of embodied self-rotation for visual and spatial perspective-taking. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 698. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00698
Uttal, D. H., & Cohen, C. A. (2012). Spatial thinking and STEM education: When, why, and how?. In Psychology of Learning and Motivation (Vol. 57, pp. 147-181). Academic Press.
Uttal, D. H., Meadow, N. G., Tipton, E., Hand, L. L., Alden, A. R., Warren, C., & Newcombe, N. S. (2013). The malleability of spatial skills: A meta-analysis of training studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139(2), 352. doi:10.1037/a0028446
Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
Wai, J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Spatial ability for STEM domains: Aligning over 50 years of cumulative psychological knowledge solidifies its importance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(4), 817-835. doi: 10.1037/a0016127