Primary children’s attitudes towards electronic games and effect of electronic games on primary children’s mathematics learning
type: CreativeWork
description: Electronic game playing is a very popular activity for children today. In the last few years there has been much attention to the potential of using games for learning. Though there have been some negative sides to electronic game playing – such as the claim that game playing is linked to aggressive or addictive behaviours (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) – a number of empirical studies suggest that games can be a tool for learning (e.g. McFarlane, Sparrowhawk & Heald, 2002, Miller & Robertson, 2010, 2011). The purpose of this thesis was to investigate children’s attitudes towards electronic games in Scotland and China and examine the effects of mathematics electronic games on the mathematics achievement and mathematics attitudes of primary school students. In the first part of the research, a total of 44 students from one primary school in Scotland and 127 pupils from two primary schools in China participated in the study investigating their attitude towards electronic games. This study found that electronic game playing was a very popular activity for both Scottish and Chinese children and they had positive attitudes towards electronic games. Children were motivated by the fun aspects most. However Scottish children spent more time on gaming than Chinese students. Moreover, Scottish children tended to regard games primarily as a source of enjoyment and for entertainment, while games seemed to be a learning medium besides fun for Chinese students. The second part of the study examined the effects of a mobile phone game ‘Brain challenge’ on Primary 4 students’ achievement in mathematics and on students’ attitudes towards mathematics. An experimental control-group design with repeated measures analysis was employed to explore mathematics performance and attitude differences within groups at three time points. A sample of 17 students was randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. In the first three weeks, the mobile phone game group children played a mobile phone…
abstract: Electronic game playing is a very popular activity for children today. In the last few years there has been much attention to the potential of using games for learning. Though there have been some negative sides to electronic game playing – such as the claim that game playing is linked to aggressive or addictive behaviours (Sandford & Williamson, 2005) – a number of empirical studies suggest that games can be a tool for learning (e.g. McFarlane, Sparrowhawk & Heald, 2002, Miller & Robertson, 2010, 2011). The purpose of this thesis was to investigate children’s attitudes towards electronic games in Scotland and China and examine the effects of mathematics electronic games on the mathematics achievement and mathematics attitudes of primary school students. In the first part of the research, a total of 44 students from one primary school in Scotland and 127 pupils from two primary schools in China participated in the study investigating their attitude towards electronic games. This study found that electronic game playing was a very popular activity for both Scottish and Chinese children and they had positive attitudes towards electronic games. Children were motivated by the fun aspects most. However Scottish children spent more time on gaming than Chinese students. Moreover, Scottish children tended to regard games primarily as a source of enjoyment and for entertainment, while games seemed to be a learning medium besides fun for Chinese students. The second part of the study examined the effects of a mobile phone game ‘Brain challenge’ on Primary 4 students’ achievement in mathematics and on students’ attitudes towards mathematics. An experimental control-group design with repeated measures analysis was employed to explore mathematics performance and attitude differences within groups at three time points. A sample of 17 students was randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. In the first three weeks, the mobile phone game group children played a mobile phone…
author: Chen, Ming
language: eng
date published: 2014
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:07:59Z
provider: University of Dundee
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Dundee