Reflections from the Process of Game-Based Teaching of Probability

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine what happens when the subject of probability is taught via educational games. Participants in the research were fourth-grade students (N=24, aged 9-10) who were taught for 3 class hours (each 40 minutes) by their teacher. The designed games were played among groups of 3-4 students. Data was gathered from 8 selected students' responses to semi-structured interviews, the teacher's views about the process, researchers' evaluations of students' reflections, students' journal entries regarding the process, and audio and video recordings of students' interactions. The findings were presented according to data collection sources. Evidence suggested that game-based teaching facilitated understanding, enhanced students' participation and motivation, enabled them to work with peers, helped them overcome math anxiety, provided an amusing learning environment, although it also resulted in classroom management difficulty and a noisy learning environment.