The impact of serious games in mathematics fluency: A study in Primary Education

Fraga-Varela, Fernando and Vila-Couñago, Esther and Martínez-Piñeiro, Esther The impact of serious games in mathematics fluency: A study in Primary Education. Comunicar, 2021, vol. 29, n. 69, pp. 125-135. [Journal article (Paginated)]

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English abstract

In recent years there has been a renewal of educational software encouraged by the incorporation of specific designs based on serious games. Previous studies on their use do not provide conclusive data on the advancement in learning, both at a general level and in specific contents. The main objective of this work is to study the impact of the use of serious games in primary education classrooms, specifically on mathematics fluency, taking into account gamification variables and teaching experience. A quasi-experimental study was carried out with a pretest-posttest design, without a control group and with several experimental groups, involving 284 students from the first to the fourth grade. The results show a significant improvement in mathematics fluency with the use of serious games in the different grades and classroom groups studied. The gamification strategy promotes even greater progress over the classes where it has not been implemented. There is a similar time of use of serious games by both novice and experienced teachers, with better results in mathematics fluency in the case of the second group. It also shows the relationship between the results obtained and the school grades of the students. The findings point to the potential of using serious games designed specifically for school environments and challenge previous work on generational barriers in teachers.

Spanish abstract

En estos últimos años ha habido una renovación del software educativo propiciada por la incorporación de diseños específicos basados en juegos serios. Los estudios previos sobre su uso no ofrecen datos concluyentes sobre el avance en el aprendizaje, tanto a nivel general como de contenidos específicos. El objetivo principal del presente trabajo es conocer el impacto del uso de juegos serios en las aulas de educación primaria, concretamente en la fluidez matemática del alumnado, atendiendo a variables de gamificación y experiencia docente. Se lleva a cabo un estudio cuasi-experimental con pretest-postest, sin grupo control y con varios grupos experimentales, en el que participan 284 estudiantes de primero a cuarto curso. Los resultados muestran una mejora significativa de la fluidez matemática con el uso de juegos serios en los distintos cursos y grupos-aula estudiados. La estrategia de gamificación promueve un progreso aún mayor respecto a las aulas en las que no se ha implementado. Se observa un tiempo de uso similar de los juegos serios por parte de profesores noveles y experimentados, con mejores resultados en fluidez matemática en el caso de los segundos. También se muestra la relación existente entre los resultados obtenidos y las calificaciones del alumnado. Las conclusiones señalan el potencial del uso de juegos serios diseñados específicamente para entornos escolares y cuestionan trabajos previos sobre las barreras generacionales en el profesorado.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Serious games; gamification; primary education; mathematics education; teachers; academic performance; Juegos serios; gamificación; educación primaria; educación matemática; docentes; rendimiento académico
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
G. Industry, profession and education.
G. Industry, profession and education. > GH. Education.
Depositing user: Alex Ruiz
Date deposited: 21 Dec 2021 12:09
Last modified: 21 Dec 2021 12:09
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/42720

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