Digital Gaming for Cross-Cultural Learning: Development of a Social Constructivist Game-Based Learning Model at a South African University

Digital Gaming for Cross-Cultural Learning: Development of a Social Constructivist Game-Based Learning Model at a South African University

Simone Titus, Dick Ng'ambi
Copyright: © 2023 |Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/IJGBL.331995
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Abstract

Although game-based learning has gained significant attention in higher education globally, it is difficult to harness its engagement and interactions to improve student success. This paper argues that the use of digital games has the potential to interrupt social practices and increase engagement and interaction, thereby fostering meaningful learning. Using a mixed-method design, a digital game was used in a sport studies programme, involving 106 participants, over a two-year period. Data were collected through surveys, focus group discussions, and reflective blog posts. Structuration theory is considered as the theoretical lens, as it purports that recursive social activities of humans are continually recreated by human agents. The paper concludes that when participants engaged in a cross-cultural game-based learning environment, the social practices acquired through their academic career were interrupted, reshaped, and reproduced into new practices. A social constructivist game-based learning model to foster interaction within multi-cultural higher education classrooms is offered.
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Game-Based Learning, Social Constructivism, And Student Engagement

Game-based learning (GBL) may be defined as activities or games that are used in the classroom to improve learning, while gamification is defined as the use of game-design elements in non-game contexts (Wiggins & Simkowski, 2014). GBL could be considered as the nexus between curricula, learning theories, and digital games with the main aim of improving student success and enhancing the learning experience (Dahalan et al., 2023).

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