Investigating fifth-grade students' functional thinking processes through a game-based learning activity

2022-9
Arslandaş, Tuba
The aim of this study was to investigate fifth-grade students' generalization and representation processes of functional relationships through a game-based learning activity. This study was carried out with four students selected from the fifth grade in a state village middle school in Mardin. In this school, where the researcher worked as a teacher, a Functional Thinking Test was applied to two classes, and participants were selected based on pre-test responses and the ability to express themselves. A pre-interview was conducted to better understand the students' solutions in the test. A digital game was designed by the researcher, which includes functional relationships such as recursive patterns, covariational thinking, and one-to-one correspondence, and a game interview was carried out to be applied to the students after the game. After the participants interacted with the game, the same test was applied as a post-test, and then the final interview was held. Students' answers regarding generalization and representation of functional relationships were assessed through correctness and strategies using qualitative data analysis. The results of the research showed a significant improvement in the students’ generalization and representation processes of functional relationships after the interaction with the game. Another important finding was that the students used symbols and expressed the functional relationships meaningfully.

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Citation Formats
T. Arslandaş, “Investigating fifth-grade students’ functional thinking processes through a game-based learning activity,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2022.