Redefining the educational model of science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum (STEM) to also include art to become STEAM (Fournier, 2013; Guyotte, Sochacka, Constantino, Walther, & Kellam, 2014) is a current method to encourage students to actively participate in 21st-century learning (Saxena, 2014). The skills emphasized for…

We have iteratively designed and researched five digital games focusing on Newtonian dynamics for middle school classrooms during the past seven years. The designs have evolved dramatically in terms of the roles and relationships of the formal representations, phenomenological representations, and control schemes. Phenomenological representations…

We develop a theory of grounded and embodied mathematical cognition (GEMC) that draws on action-cognition transduction for advancing understanding of how the body can support mathematical reasoning. GEMC proposes that participants' actions serve as inputs capable of driving the cognition-action system toward associated cognitive states. This…

This paper describes the findings of a pilot study that used robotics and game design to develop middle school students' computational thinking strategies. One hundred and twenty-four students engaged in LEGO® EV3 robotics and created games using Scalable Game Design software. The results of the study revealed students' pre-post self-efficacy…

Many stakeholders in education believe that video games can be used to enhance teaching and learning. However, parents' attitudes toward changes in education can be a factor in whether the modifications are successful. Unfortunately, there is not much information regarding parents' attitudes towards the use of video games in education. The purpose…

Extant research reports differential effects related to the efficacy of video games as a means to enhance science instruction. However, there are very few studies examining differences in learning outcomes across student-level independent variables. This study used multilevel modeling to examine the effects of three video game-enhanced life…

This study attempts to gain insight into whether and what types of gamification have the potential to contribute to students' learning performances while also remaining gender equality in science education. Two types of game elements including competition (gamified animation) and cooperation (social gamified animation) were integrated into an…

The aim of this study was to explore Swedish junior high school students meaning-making of participating in exergaming in school based on their aesthetic judgments during game play. A transactional approach, drawing on the work of John Dewey, was used in the study and the data consisted of video- and audio recordings of ongoing video gaming. A…

"Blended" and "flipped" pedagogies are becoming more common features of classrooms as the technological revolution continues. While the appropriate use of technology in the learning environment can serve to motivate some students, significant problems surrounding student motivation and engagement remain. As such, the…

A student-designed games (SDG) teaching unit could be described as the process in which students create, organise, practice and refine their own games within certain limits established by the teacher. This study compared how two different teaching approaches had an impact on students and their teacher. The researcher taught two SDG units to junior…

The Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction every two years to students in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey is to help monitor the prevalence of behaviors that not only influence youth health, but also put youth at risk for the most significant health and social problems…

In this study, I discuss the need to increase girls' involvement with game design due to the numerous benefits that engaging in this practice might have. In particular, I discuss the tool Twine, an accessible and relatively easy-to-use platform for creating text-based games. I provide an overview of the tool and its potential benefits for…

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of a 4-week classroom physical activity break intervention on middle school students' health-related physical fitness. The study was a randomized controlled trial with students assigned to the experiment and control conditions. A convenience sample comprised 94 adolescents (experiment group n = 52;…

Recently, research studies and media have reported on the detrimental effects violent video games have on the social behaviors of adolescents. For example, previous studies have found that playing video games is positively associated with aggressive behaviors and negatively associated with prosocial behaviors. However, very few studies have…

The Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction every two years to students in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey is to help monitor the prevalence of behaviors that not only influence youth health, but also put youth at risk for the most significant health and social problems…