Marjaana Kangas

A qualitative literature review of educational games in the classroom: the teacher’s pedagogical activities

Abstract The interest towards research on learning games is continuously growing, however, the integration of games in teaching is still a somewhat unexplored area of study. In this qualitative literature review, we were interested in the pedagogical foundations that underpin empirical studies and especially in the teacher’s role/activities regarding the use of games in education. The data collection method was based on the systematic literature review models. The data consisted of 35 articles that were coded by using interpretive approach. The results indicate that the teacher’s role was pedagogically active in 21 articles. The teacher’s pedagogical activities became evident in various game-based learning processes: in planning, in orientation, during the gaming, and after the game-play sessions.

Creative and playful learning on technology-enriched playgrounds: an international investigation

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine the degree that creative and playful learning (CPL) in a technology-enriched playground influences academic achievement of students and what factors are responsible for successes. The participants were 276 students from 12 elementary classrooms in the Netherlands and Finland. The research used a pretest–posttest, without control design. The dependent variable was academic achievement on teacher-created tests; the independent variable was participation in the intervention; and the control variables were pretest scores, gender, academic subjects previously studied, age, satisfaction with schooling, country of the school, and classroom within the school. The results showed that there were significant gains in academic achievement and that the pretest was the only significant predictor of posttest achievement. Other variables, including gender, academic subjects studied, age, satisfaction with schooling, country of school, and classroom, were not statistically significant predictors of posttest scores. While students’ academic achievements are only one measure of progress in the current debate about learning in the education system, this article provides insight on education through analyses of the relationships among the integration of curriculum-based learning, CPL practices, and outdoor playgrounds.

‘I’ll take care of the flowers!’ Researching agency through initiatives across different learning environments

ABSTRACT This case study examined how the agency of a fifth-grade pupil appeared across different learning environments in the primary school context. In this study, agency is defined as the initiatives taken by an individual in interactive situations. The research question is: how does a pupil’s agency manifest and vary through taking initiatives across different learning environments within curriculum-based education? The empirical data consist of 50 video episodes including learning activities in a classroom, in a vegetable garden and on a nearby farm. The findings show that the pupil’s agency varied across learning environments, manifesting itself through complementing, supportive, constructive and challenging initiatives. When developing pedagogy that supports learning across formal and informal learning environments, it is essential to enable pupils to take different kinds of initiatives and to exercise their agency in versatile contexts.

Primary Schools Crossing Boundaries

One of the most-discussed topics in the educational research field is how schools open up to society and thereby acknowledge the meaning of learning in everyday situations and in out-of-school environments (e.g., Sefton-Green, 2011; Yamazumi, 2014).

Inter-Professional Pedagogical Collaboration between Teachers and Their Out-of-School Partners.

Abstract Teachers cross boundaries when they collaborate with out-of-school partners to provide more authentic learning experiences for students. Using the framework of boundary crossing, the study draws on interview data from schools and their out-of-school partners to examine the research question of how the research participants viewed the beginning of their inter-professional pedagogical collaboration. We use this term because in the context of primary and secondary education contexts mere inter-professional collaboration has usually referred to activities aimed, for example, at addressing children’s social exclusion. The starting point for inter-professional pedagogical collaboration can be seen through the identification of boundaries and boundary crossing. Using theory-based analysis to categorise the interview data, inter-professional pedagogical collaboration became evident in terms of (1) shared pedagogical knowledge, (2) finding roles in new situations and contexts, and (3) resources for collaboration. Recognising these can help schools respond to the needs of twenty-first century learning.