The Impact of Teaching through Games on Students׳ Level of Motivation and Understanding of the Subject ״Structure of Genetic Material (DNA)״ in  Biotechnology Profession

Sohair Sakhnini

Abstract: This study examines the impact of teaching through gamifications on students׳ level of motivation and understanding of the subject “Chemical structure of genetic material (DNA)” in the high- school biotechnology major.

This study highlights the importance of gamification (Khan et al., 2017) in teaching biotechnology, a field that plays an important role in economic development of various industries, such as medicine, pharmacy, and the environment. Studies have shown that many students do not properly understand basic scientific concepts in the biotechnology profession. By misunderstanding basic concepts, many students have difficulty understanding the advanced concepts that are based on these basic concepts. Despite the importance of the subject, most students leave introductory classes with a very limited understanding of the subject. Biotechnology has been perceived as a difficult topic for students by many researchers (Kalogiannakis et al., 2021; Prez at el., 2018), teachers, and scientists, due to the abstract nature of many concepts (Anastasiadis et al., 2018; Blonder & Sakhnini 2012), teaching styles applied in the classroom, lack of teaching aids and difficulty in the language of science. All these factors caused students, from school level to university, to develop misunderstandings and misconceptions. The hypothesis of the study is that the use of games in biotechnology classes will increase the motivation of students to study biotechnology and help improve their understanding of the content of the studied material.

The study tools were varied, applying quantitative and qualitative analysis by using pre-post questionnaires, preliminary tests and post-test, questionnaires, and content tests, which took place after the completion of a study unit on DNA structure. In the intervention, students were divided into two groups: one group learned through games and the other group learned in a traditional way. The preliminary questionnaire, the pre and the post-tests questionnaires came to examine the level of understanding and motivation among students before and after the use of games in the teaching process, respectively.

The study dealt with integrating games while teaching biotechnology classes. The results of the research expressed positive results towards the subject from two aspects: (1) Raising the level of motivation and (2) Raising the level of understanding among the students. The research showed that incorporating games in biotechnology learning was effective in helping students improve their grades and raise their level of motivation.

References:

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Blonder, R., & Sakhnini, S. (2012). Teaching two basic nanotechnology concepts in secondary school by using a variety of teaching methods. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract, 13(4), 500-516.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c2rp20026k

Kalogiannakis, M., Papadakis, S., & Zourmpakis, A. (2021). Gamification in science    education. A systematic review of the literature. Education Sciences, 11(1), 22.
https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11010022

Khan, A., Ahmad, F. H., & Malik, M. M. (2017). Use of digital game-based learning and gamification in secondary school science: The effect on student engagement, learning and gender difference. Education and Information Technologies, 22(6), 2767-2804. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-017-9622-1

Prez, M. D. M., Duque, A. G., & Garca, L. F. (2018). Game-based learning: Increasing the logical-mathematical, naturalistic, and linguistic learning levels of primary school students. Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research (NAER Journal), 7(1), 31-39. https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2018.1.2