Abstract:
New Zealand’s national achievement information for writing shows that students in Years 4-8 are not achieving at national expectation (Ministry of Education, 2014). In fact this achievement information shows a marked decrease in achievement levels from Year 4 onwards, with achievement levels at the end of Year 8 being the lowest. With only approximately 68% of Year 8 students achieving at, above, or well above in writing at the end of 2013, there is an obvious need to accelerate students’ progress and improve achievement levels for writing. The intervention that is the subject of this study took place in a modern learning environment school, in Auckland. Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL) was integrated into a literacy programme and used as a dedicated teaching tool for four weeks to target the learning needs of a group of students. Five participants ranging from Year 6 to Year 8 were selected. The intervention focused on improving the students’ ability to generate ideas and develop depth (coherence and complexity) in their writing. In addition, these writers needed increased motivation to write and support to use strategies independently to improve their writing. The teaching intervention was delivered and assessed using a pre- and post- e-asTTle assessment tool and participant interviews. The intervention was successful; results showed significant ‘shift’ in the targeted area of ideas and participants’ responses to the intervention were favourable, with high levels of engagement. The relationship of high engagement with improved achievement in idea generation and development was a key outcome of the intervention. While gaming has been used in educational settings before, explicitly using noneducational games, which are relevant to our young people, to promote achievement is only just beginning to be undertaken and investigated. Digital video game worlds and characters rival those of any popular film or work of fiction. It is both exciting and long overdue to finally begin to see their integration in our classrooms and their potential to promote learning across the curriculum harnessed.