Sequential Behavior Analysis of Interdisciplinary Activities in Computational Thinking and EFL Language Learning With Game-Based Learning

Ting Chia Hsu, Ching Chang*, Yi Sian Liang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The study explored the effects of an interdisciplinary learning approach on developing students' English learning (EL) and computational thinking (CT) through two different game-based learning approaches. A quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach in terms of enhancing students' CT knowledge and their EL achievement in an elementary school English as a foreign language learning context. A total of 52 Grade 3 students took part in the experiment, of whom 28 assigned to the experimental group learned with a machine educational robot (machine-ER) board game and 24 assigned to the control group learned with a character educational robot (character-ER) board game. The results indicated that both groups made significant improvements in learning achievement: 1) in EL achievement of learning vocabulary and sentence patterns; 2) in CT concepts, although the machine-ER board game produced a greater increase than the character-ER board game in both language learning achievement and CT knowledge; 3) their learning anxieties were also lower than those of the control group; and 4) the analysis of behavioral patterns also revealed that students playing the machine-ER board game demonstrated better language-learning interaction, while the character-ER board game presented greater CT development in finding solutions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)270-279
Number of pages10
JournalIEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies
Volume17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Collaborative learning tools
  • design of activities
  • educational games
  • interdisciplinary practices
  • mobile and personal devices

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering
  • Education
  • Computer Science Applications

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sequential Behavior Analysis of Interdisciplinary Activities in Computational Thinking and EFL Language Learning With Game-Based Learning'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this