The Effect of Educational Digital Games Designed by Students on the Teaching of the 6th Grade Effective Citizenship Learning Area in Social Studies Course

Abstract

Digital games have become more involved in our lives and entertainment culture with the development of technology. Digital games, which individuals of all ages play and derive great enjoyment from at the same time, have been actively used in educational activities. However, it is seen that the games used in the education process are mostly developed and marketed by different institutions. Thus, the aim of this study is to have secondary school students design and code the games that will be used in the effective citizenship learning area so that they can become more active in their own learning experiences and become digital producers as well as digital consumers. Considering this purpose, an explanatory sequential design, one of the mixed-methods research designs, was adopted in the study. After the data were obtained by using a quasi-experimental design in the quantitative aspect of the study, student opinions were taken to explain these data in depth, and the study was supported by the qualitative data. The qualitative data were collected with the Effective Citizenship Learning Domain Academic Achievement Test (ECLDAAT), and the quantitative data were gathered with student interviews. The quantitative data of the study were analyzed using the SPSS program and appropriate analyses. Student interviews were analyzed using content analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that educational digital games coded and designed by students had significant effects on learning. In addition, the students stated at the end of the implementation that the lesson was more fun, they were more motivated, and they boosted their learning during the implementation process.