Evaluation of Mathematical Game Design Skills of Pre-Service Classroom Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to evaluate the games prepared by pre-service classroom teachers within the scope of “Mathematics Teaching 1” and “Mathematics Teaching 2” courses, which are included in the undergraduate classroom teaching programs in Turkey, and to make predictions on the game design skills of pre-service teachers through them. The study has been conducted as a case study which is one of the qualitative research designs. The sampling group has been composed of 108 mathematical games designed by 386 undergraduate students, who were third year students at Necmettin Erbakan University, department of classroom teaching in 2015-2016 academic year, fall and spring semesters. Data collected through interviews and observations have been analysed with the helpof descriptive analysis method. Results indicate thatpre-service teachers failed at designing games that are satisfactory in terms of “Game Rules”, “Goals and objectives”, “Outcomes and feedback” and “Interaction”. This can be taken as one of the main indicators ofgeneral failure in game designs.According to the otherfindings, game designs developed by pre-service teachers were partially or completely satisfactory in terms of “Conflict (Competition, challenge, and opposition)” and “Story”

Keywords

• Mathematics education
• pre-service classroom teachers
• game design