Engineering Design and Minecraft Education for Primary Students’ Attitudes Toward Science: Development and Initial Evaluation of a Stakeholder-Informed Framework

Positive attitudes toward science are relevant to students’ continuing interest in STEM learning. This study developed and initially evaluated a stakeholder-informed Engineering Design Process–Minecraft Game-Based Learning (EDP-MGBL) framework, with accessibility and participation opportunities treated as instructional design intentions rather than measured inclusion outcomes. Using a sequential two-phase mixed-methods development-and-evaluation design, Phase One drew on semi-structured interviews with Year 5 students, science teachers, curriculum specialists, and educational technology specialists to identify six needs: enjoyment, confidence, perceived relevance, learner agency, opportunities for collaboration, and visualisation of abstract energy concepts. The qualitative findings informed the subsequent design of an eight-week intervention. In Phase Two, 68 Year 5 students in western China participated in a quasi-experimental evaluation. The Attitude Toward Science Scale (ATSS), comprising Scientific Fun Feelings, Scientific Self-Efficacy, Scientific Value Identity, and Scientific Behavioural Intention, was administered at pretest, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test. A significant Group × Time interaction indicated different patterns of attitudinal change between the experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group’s total ATSS mean increased from 83.59 at pretest to 90.59 at post-test and 91.79 at delayed post-test; the comparison group showed comparatively small changes. These results provide preliminary evidence of an association between participation in the EDP-MGBL intervention and more favourable science attitudes. The six stakeholder-informed pathways are untested instructional design propositions, not identified causal mechanisms. Engagement, inclusion, and differential participation were not measured.