Date of Award
Fall 2020
Document Type
Open Access Dissertation
Department
Educational Studies
First Advisor
Christopher Bogiages
Abstract
This qualitative action research dissertation was an endeavor to strengthen the practitioner-researcher’s ability to foster collaboration skills among eighth grade students in his elective science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) class. The research question that anchored this study was: To what extent can I foster effective collaboration among my middle school students through the use of an instructional planning framework for collaboration and the strategies associated with digital game-based learning The practitioner-researcher implemented an intervention that utilized a collaborative learning framework while student groups worked together during a digital game-based learning opportunity. The synthesis of a collaboration framework, the elements of effective collaboration (Lai, DiCerbo, & Foltz, 2017), and digital game-based learning (Prensky, 2001), informed the intervention for this study. The intervention of collaborative digital game-based learning was applied in the study context, yielding key findings to inform the practitioner-researcher’s practice. The study found that in the researcher’s context, informal coaching was a valuable part of the collaborative intervention, and that process benchmarking with intermediate projects deadlines could help to alleviate the build.
Recommended Citation
Hooks, D. W.(2020). Facilitating Collaborative Group Work Among Middle School Students Through Digital Game-Based Learning: An Action Research Study to Improve Classroom Instruction. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/6108