The logic gate board game for promoting intrinsic motivation and understanding in the science museum
Pimonpan Chantarapimon (a,b), Artorn Nokkaew (a), Parames Laosinchai (a), and Wararat Wongkia1 (a*)
a) Institute for Innovative Learning, Mahidol University, 999 Phuttamonthon 4 Road, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
pimonpan18101979[at]gmail.com
*corresponding author: wararat.won[at]mahidol.edu
b) National Science Museum, Thailand, Technopolis, Klong 5, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
Abstract
Mostly, logic gates were communicated by permanent exhibits in museums. Our logic gate board game was created to be an alternative way for communicating contents and developing children-s self-motivation in the informal context. Three logic gates—AND-gate, OR-gate, and NOT-gate—were embedded in the mechanism of the board game. With the game interaction, the main goal is to encourage the children to create their own strategies to complete a mission by using conditions (gates). A fairy tale was used to engage the children to play the game. We investigated children-s understanding and intrinsic motivation through playing the board game in the informal context. The participants of this study were 21 primary children who participated in a one-day camp at the science museum. To examine the children-s motivation, the data was collected by an intrinsic motivation survey, a behavior observation checklist, and an interview, while a conceptual knowledge test, and the interview were utilized to gather the children-s understanding. All data were collected and analyzed by mixed methods. The participants were introduced the rules and the context of the game before playing the game. During the game play, the children-s interaction with friends and the game were observed. The children were assessed by completing the test and the survey consecutively. Then, a debriefing session was held at the end of the assessment. Some voluntary children were interviewed to investigate both their understanding and motivation. The results of the survey show the success in promoting the children-s intrinsic motivation, e.g. perceived learning, engagement, immersion, challenge, and skills. Particularly, the engagement factor has the highest frequency on the survey. Corresponding to the interview result, the engagement, enjoyment, concentration, and interest were the most mentioned. From the observation, it seems that the children were completely focused throughout the game. Besides, in the understanding aspect, Most students could develop their understanding of the logic gates through the board game. Supported by the interview result, the children mentioned the strategy they used to complete the mission which required their logical thinking. However, it seems that the children still could not apply knowledge gained from the board game to the real-life problem. In contrast to the enjoyment in the game session, they showed uncomfortable faces when they were asking to do the conceptual knowledge test since it did not normally happen in the informal context. Importantly, the board game could be used to promote children-s understanding and motivation of the logic gates in the informal setting.
Keywords: logic gates, museum, informal context game-based learning,board game
Topic: Science Education