7.8. Evaluation and Testing of Solution in Practice
7.8.6. Reflection and Discussion
The findings of this part of the study illustrate that γKhozi, a game developed on modern
educational principles (GOM) and played by groups of learners who were encouraged to discuss their problems and game-play, appeared to effectively enhance student performance and
promoted their learning skills. Through the researcher’s interaction and observation of the learners during game play, the importance of a facilitator was highlighted. These games need subject specialist such as teachers, who should act as facilitators, to provide guidance and clarity during play as learners’ knowledge is enriched. Learning devices such as games, therefore, do not replace the role of teachers but realign it to meet the challenges of a new form of a teacher who is no longer a source of all knowledge but some one who recognises the wealth of knowledge learners bring with them to school (Seagram, 2004). Becta (2004) asserts, “Simply
Education Grade 12 Scholars Education
Persona Literacy Visual
2D Visualization 3D Visualization 2D to 3D Visualization Logic
Mathematical Communication
Reading Writing Properties
Age Sex Occupation
16-19
male: 40%; female: 60% male: 47.1%; female: 52.9%
Student
Persona Literacy Visual Visual
2D Visualization 2D Visualization 3D Visualization 3D Visualization 2D to 3D Visualization 2D to 3D Visualization Logic
Logic
Mathematical Mathematical Reading Reading Writing Writing Properties
Age Sex Occupation
16-19
male: 40%; female: 60% male: 47.1%; female: 52.9%
Student
Grade 12 Scholars
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putting children into groups does not generate co-operative learning. …Significant teacher support is necessary if 'games in classrooms' is going to be viable - in the areas of using the game paradigm, and in using and managing the technology”. The role of teachers within this social constructivist paradigm needs to be changed to that of a facilitator and not of the source of all knowledge. During game play the learners encountered problems which could only be solved with some assistance from the facilitator without giving them the answers.
This finding support the ideas of Vygotsky (1978) where he wrote that the zone of proximal development is “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of de-development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”.
Since its inception in 2001 GOM, a conceptual model which combines game design and educational theory (2001), has gone through many changes. The latest change was the addition by Seagram (2004) to the Problems component of two concrete interfaces of Content and Interface design. This research proposes to include another concrete interface, that of Social dialogue, to the Problems component. It was through engaging with γKhozi that players were able to work in groups and through social dialogue, they were able to solve the problems presented during game-play and the skills evaluation instrument. Such environments appear to offer learners who might struggle in the traditional learning environments a unique opportunity to engage with other learners. Therefore, the GOM needs to be extended through the pertinent inclusion of collaborative environment, which facilitates the ever increasingly important aspect of social dialogue.
The idea that technology mediated learning can improve performance if administered carefully is supported by, among others, Zhang and Peck (2003), who used multimedia tools in their research and found that there was a significant difference between learners working in groups and those working alone. They also reported that learners appreciated and enjoyed collaborative learning as long as they felt that their ability to communicate was unhindered by technology.
Breuleux and Silva (1994) discovered that students accept technology when it is introduced in a more participatory manner. In addition, interactions among students have proven to produce positive learning outcomes (Brown et al., 1986).
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Figure 7.23: Representation of the revised GOM which includes the Content interface and Interface design as promulgated by Seagram (2004) and the new Social dialogue interface.
While playing γKhozi participants were able to set their own pace, make mistakes, seek clarity from their peers, deal with group conflict, make decision, doubt those decision and revisit them as many times as they liked. Bowman (1994) argues that traditional schools do not
accommodate the different ways, beliefs, cultural expression and norms of the poor and of the minority groups and states that this hinders progress of such groups and limits the ability of teachers to educate them. The results clearly highlight the importance of embracing cultural and social interaction as these assist in enhancing performance of learners even of those who come from the disadvantaged backgrounds.
Playing γKhozi in groups significantly improved communication skills (77.1% versus 38.4%, Wilcox Signed-Rank test p < 0.001, Significance Test Z=-8.063) although participants were
Game Space
Play Exploration Challenges Engagement Visualization Space
Story Line Critical thinking Discovery Goal formation Goal completion Competition Practice Elements
Fun Graphics Sound Technology Actor/s
Drama Interaction Gestures Problems
Literacy
Visual Logic
Mathematical Computer Communication
Reading Writing Speaking Memory Short-term
Long-term
Motor Manipulation
Reflex Game Space
Play Exploration Challenges Engagement Visualization Space
Story Line Critical thinking Discovery Goal formation Goal completion Competition Practice Elements
Fun Graphics Sound Technology Actor/s
Drama Interaction Gestures Problems
Literacy
Visual Logic
Mathematical Computer Communication
Reading Writing Speaking Memory Short-term
Long-term
Motor Manipulation
Reflex
Social Dialogue Content
Interface design
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mainly isiZulu speakers who struggled with spoken English. An interesting observation made regarding the way communication took place between learners, during play and when answering the questionnaires, was that most expressed themselves and explained things by using a mixture of English and Zulu. This supports the idea that this type of discourse embraces the learners’
cultural ways of interrogating and solving practical problems. Cairney (1999) found that because traditional school structures in Australia were not able to cater for a multicultural society, teachers struggled daily with how to acknowledge and build on the languages and cultural diversity of their classrooms. Within the context of South Africa, the problem of an education system not taking cognisance of its multicultural environment is highlighted by Webb (2002) who advocates the use of African languages as one of the languages of instruction in schools. Webb argues that in a multicultural society like South Africa the English language proficiency required for effective educational development is generally not present and difficult to acquire among black learners given the sociolinguistic context of South Africa. Puro and Bloome (1987) suggest that the importance of communication in instruction is often overlooked although it had powerful effects on what children learn in school.
With regard to the visualisation skills, students working in groups had the mean score of 60.8%
an improvement of 14.1% from that of 46.7% for those learners working alone. In order to verify the results, the Wilcox Signed-Rank test, which detects the differences in the distributions of two related variables, was chosen because of the small size of one of the samples. The Sign Test gave a small significance difference of p < 0.001, which suggests that performance for the two groups was different. This also confirms that learners playing γKhozi in groups
outperformed those working alone with a difference of Z=-7.819. It is argued that visual representations are useful to students with non-traditional learning styles and that students learn best when information is provided in their preferred learning style (Riding and Grimley, 1999).
The results on numeracy show that after playing γKhozi and working in groups learners performed better in mathematical skills by attained a score of 55.8% compared to 30.9%
achieved by those who did not participate in the game. The Wilcox Signed-Rank test gave a significance difference of p < 0.001 indicating that performance by the two groups was statistically different. The Sign Test results of Z=-8.064 was in favour of learners working in groups. The problem of learners with lack of numerical skills does not only exist in South Africa but it is a global phenomenon. Bowman (1994) found that in the United States of America, the African-Americans and students from low socio-economic backgrounds do not have skills to participate in the social and economic life of their country as they constantly perform below the national average in mathematics and language skills. However, Moore
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(2002) who carried out a research at the University of Cincinnati concluded that African- American male learners, who were the lowest performers in mathematics, found that working together in groups helped to improve their academic performance.