Transforming Classrooms through Game-Based Learning: A Feasibility Study in a Developing Country

Abstract

This article reports an exploratory study which investigated attitudes towards the practice of game-based learning in teaching STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) within a Thai educational context. This self-administered Internet-based survey yielded 169 responses from a snowball sampling tech- nique. Three fifths of respondents were female (59.2% or N=100 females and 40.8% or N=69 males). Slightly more than half (55.6%) of the participants were elementary, secondary and university students. An additional second group of thirty-five per cent (N=59) were teachers who were in charge of STEM educational programs. Almost one tenth (9.5%, N=16) were parents. Frequency tables were used to analyze the quantitative data. The qualitative data was derived from a single open-ended question. The study found some divergent opinions that are useful in considering game-based learning for STEM education in Thailand. The overall average attitude towards the usage of game-based learning was very positive (3.92 out of 5, S.D. = 0.80). The study found that the majority of informants preferred that the delivery mode was online through a web browser followed by the mobile mode through an application and the least preferred was the offline mode recorded on CD-ROM (55.0%, 31.4% and 13.6% respectively). Thai was still the most preferred language to be used though both students and parents surveyed had a stronger preference for English and a Thai-English bilingual mode than the teachers. An important finding in this research was that stakeholders expected game-based learning to be integrated into the traditional classroom because of its enhanced learning approach.