The Design and Trial of an Educational Game Based on a Fifth Grade Course

 The Design and Trial of an Educational Game Based on a Fifth Grade Course Y. MahdaviNasab H. Fardaanesh, Ph.D. E. Talaa’ee, Ph.D. J. Haatami, Ph.D. Games as enjoyable activities are of special interest to children, and their use as instructional tools can lead to better learning. In order to design and develop such a game from a constructivist perspective, one of the lessons in the fifth grade’s social studies textbook, titled Iran’s neighbors, was selected. Following the initial development, the game was improved further, given the feedback provided by a number of teachers and experts in the field. For the experimental trial of the game, a sample of 50 male fifth graders was selected and divided into two subgroups one of which used the game while learning the lesson. Both groups were taught the lesson using constructivist methods, however, the experimental group showed a much better learning than the control group. Key words: educational games, constructivist learning environment, learning through game playing