Do you want to learn physics? Please play angry birds (but with epistemic goals)

Funding The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The Spanish Ministry of Innovation, Science and Universities has supported this research through the Project EDU2017-82243-C2-1-R. Referencias bibliográficas • Alderoqui-Pinus D., Pozo J. I., (2013) Epistemic actions in science museums. Families interacting with the mirror room exhibit. Revista de Psicodidáctica 18(2): 275–292. doi:10.1387/RevPsicodidact.6934. • Almeida P. A., (2012) Can I ask a question? The importance of classroom questioning. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 31: 634–638. • Anderson J., Barnett M., (2011) Using videogames to support pre-service elementary teachers learning of basic physics principles. Journal of Science Education and Technology 20(4): 347–362. • Anderson J. L., Barnett M., (2013) Learning physics with digital game simulations in middle school science. Journal of Science Education and Technology 22(6): 914–926. • Annetta L. A., Minogue J., Holmes S. Y., Cheng M. T., (2009) Investigating the impact of videogames on high school students’ engagement and learning about genetics. Computers & Education 53(1): 74–85. • Bideau B., Kulpa R., Vignais N., Brault S., Multon F., Craig C., (2010) Using virtual reality to analyze sports performance. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications 30(2): 14–21. • Boot W. R., Kramer A. F., Simons D. J., Fabiani M., Gratton G., (2008) The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta psychologica 129(3): 387–398. • Boyle E. A., Hainey T., Connolly T. M., Gray G., Earp J., Ott M., Pereira J., (2016) An update to the systematic literature review of empirical evidence of the impacts and outcomes of computer games and serious games. Computers & Education 94: 178–192. • Brown A. L., Palincsar A. S., (1989) Guided cooperative learning and individual knowledge acquisition. In: Resnick L. B., (ed) Knowing, learning and instruction: Essays
For some years now, the scientific community has been studying how videogames foster acquisition of mental representations of the world around us. Research to date suggests that the efficiency of videogames as learning tools largely depends on the instructional design in which they are included. This article provides empirical evidence related to the use of the videogame Angry Birds and how it can modify students’ conceptions regarding object motion. We selected a sample of I IO l6- to I7-year-old students in postcompulsory secondary school. Both quantitative and qualitative data are provided. Our results show that (a) merely playing Angry Birds does not produce significant learning, (b) learning occurs when Angry Birds is guided by epistemic goals. Students who used the videogame in this way were able to recognize more variables, provide better explanations, and understand more fully the relationship between angle and distance, (c) naifbelief regarding the effect of mass on falling objects (“mass-speed belief”) remained unchanged after using Angry Birds guided either pragmatic or epistemic goals, and (d) there was no significant difference between students who worked collaboratively in pairs and those who worked individually. In the light of these results, we discuss potential implications for the future.
The Spanish Ministry of Innovation, Science and Universities
Depto. de Investigación y Psicología en Educación
Fac. de Educación
TRUE
pub