Playing is one of the most important childhood activities. All children, even those already included in formal education, have a need for playing. This is the reason why the inclusion of the method of didactic games in teaching is essential in the first triad of the primary school education. Didactic games in environment education encourage curiosity and active participation in children's learning. The method of didactic games can be used in different phases of learning: introduction, acquisition, repetition and testing. Research has shown that didactic games in teaching have influence on the pupils' motivation, participation, duration of their attention and consequently on their knowledge.
In the empirical part, I have researched the levels of knowledge and motivation with third year pupils in primary school when it comes to teaching light principles with didactic games. I was interested in the effects of a particular didactic game in different classes. I wanted to find out which didactic game has the biggest impact on motivation and knowledge of the pupils. In the empirical part, I used a quiz, a board game and a theatre play as types of didactic games. Furthermore, I wanted to determine what sense do correctly formulated and emphasised conclusions have on the knowledge of the pupils. The research has been carried out in a school in the south-eastern part of Slovenia. 60 pupils aged 8 or 9, attending three different third year classes, have been included. 21 pupils attend class A, class B has 19 pupils and class C 20 pupils. I used anon-probability, purposive sample. In my research, I used the descriptive, non-experimental method, and a combination of the qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Two test types were used to collect data: before-/after-tests and tests after each learning session. The former were solved by the pupils before the start of the learning sessions and ten days after the last learning session. The latter were solved by the pupils at the end of each learning session. During the didactic games, the teachers observed as well as participated. Their remarks were noted in the previously prepared observation sheets.
The results show that most of the students reached the learning objectives with the help of all three chosen didactic games. In terms of acquired knowledge, the least effective game was the board game, while the most effective was the shadow theatre in class A and the quiz in classes B and C. In terms of motivation, the most effective game was the board game in class A, while classes B and C preferred the quiz. The least motivational was the shadow theatre. All three didactic games contributed to relaxed atmosphere, cooperation and the mental activity of the pupils. The most effective game in classes B and C was the quiz, while the board game was the most effective in terms of motivation in class A. In terms of knowledge, the most positive impact had the shadow theatre. I was also interested in how the conclusive discussions influenced the knowledge of the pupils. The research shows that led conclusive discussions have the most positive impact on the knowledge of pupils. A positive impact was also noted with pupils who had to carry out an independent conclusive discussion. Conclusive discussions also have a positive outcome with the pupils, who achieved the least amount of points in the before-tests.
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