Exploring chemcaper in reinventing chemistry learning / Mah Lay Suat

Mah , Lay Suat (2019) Exploring chemcaper in reinventing chemistry learning / Mah Lay Suat. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

With the emergence of a new generation that lives and breathes on digital technology also come challenges in education. Educators today encounter numerous obstacles in their classroom, and one of those hurdles is how to capture and keep the iGeneration engaged and motivated towards learning for a long time. This widening digital divide has left a major impact on students’ diminishing motivation to learn Science and Chemistry, leading to poor performance in examinations and a drop in students enrolling for Science subjects. As document proof shows the iGeneration is wired differently, the main aim of this study is to explore and investigate the possibility of reinventing Chemistry learning using a selected digital role-play game known as ChemCaper. Purposive sampling was used to select the iGeneration sample, which consisted twenty students from an international school and findings of this study showed these students were extremely engaged and motivated to play ChemCaper. The elements of reinvention in Chemistry learning occurred in various forms beginning from the discovery that situated learning occurred through “head fake” whereby students thought they were playing and mastering a digital game without realizing they were actually learning Chemistry. The Chemistry learning in this context includes drawing and naming apparatus, identifying some physical separation techniques, identifying some basic chemical symbols and basic chemical bonding. Another element of reinvention occurred when fifteen of these students (n=19) who had no prior Chemistry knowledge showed moderate to strong attainment of Chemistry knowledge in a short span of two weeks, solely from the continuous active participation of playing ChemCaper. Interview data revealed that most students were able to convert what they played in the game into Chemistry knowledge. It must be stressed that these students are below the formal age of learning Chemistry and that no structured teaching was conducted. Results from the online interactive quiz and focus group interviews also showed that students who were younger could attain equal Chemistry knowledge compared to their older peers. In addition, learning was random and not linear as each student learnt differently based on his or her needs and experience of the game. The final element that connects the dots and translates implicit learning to explicit learning is the importance of scaffolding for the selected iGeneration students.

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