The aim of didactic games is to give students the opportunity to learn a new skill or knowledge in a different way. Although many parallels can be drawn between play and didactic games, it is important to remember that, unlike children's games, didactic games are not spontaneous. In didactic game, the idea of play does not come from the students inner need. Didactic games are designed by adults (teachers) and are designed to have a learning content, a flow and a task that requires the students mental effort to solve. Didactic games are designed for all students, which means that the design needs to take into account the diverse abilities of all students.
The master thesis focuses on the development and evaluation of didactic games on the subject of heat and temperature. We were particularly interested in how the more academically successful and the less academically successful students react to the prepared didactic games. For the master's thesis, we designed three didactic games, which were evaluated. The study involved 28 students of 8th grade. Data were collected by a pre- and post-assessment (pre-test in post-test: Kaj že vem?) and a questionnaire (Moje mnenje). The analysis of the data showed that the progress of knowledge acquired through the didactic games was low. Nevertheless, the students enjoyed this way of learning and liked the didactic games.
The results of the master thesis provide insights for physics teachers on the responses of more academically successful and less academically successful students to the learning content heat and temperature through didactic games. It also provides an incentive for physics teachers to decide to use didactic games in physics lessons.
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