Examining the Development of the Concept of Area in Secondary School Students with a Digital Educational Game

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of a digital game designed within the framework of hierarchic interactionalism theory on the development of the concept of area in secondary school students. The digital game used in this study was designed after being influenced by the preliminary concepts and skills related to the concept of area taught in traditional activities. A qualitative research method was used to examine students' conceptual development in detail. First, preclinical interviews were conducted with the students through traditional activities related to the concept of area. These clinical interviews were evaluated according to the criteria in Battista (2003) and Outhered and Mitchelmore (2000). Ten students having low levels in the concept of area participated in the study. Students were encouraged to use the thinking aloud technique and thus the development of cognitive strategies related to the preconceptions and skills used in the game were revealed. At the end of the game, post-clinical interviews were conducted with the students using traditional activities and the development of the students was revealed. It was found as a result of the present study that the digital game was quite effective on conceptual development, similar to traditional activities. Design features such as being reusable, allowing mistakes and having interactive objects shows that digital play is a more effective tool than traditional activities.