Game-Based Remedial Instruction in Mastery Learning for Upper-Primary School Students

Abstract

The study examines the effectiveness of using computer games for after-school remedial mastery learning. We incorporated instructional materials related to "area of a circle" into the popular Monopoly game to enhance the performance of sixth-grade students learning mathematics. The program requires that students enter the answers to avoid the shortcomings of multiple-choice questions. Throughout the game, whenever students are unable to answer questions correctly they receive immediate remedial instruction specifically for that question. This study sought to compare the effectiveness of game-based and video-based remedial instruction incorporated with elements of mastery learning. The results demonstrate that (a) both instructional videos and the proposed Monopoly game enhance the learning of mathematical concepts; and (b) the Monopoly game is more effective than instructional videos at leveraging the benefits of mastery learning. The goal of the research was to integrate games and mastery learning into after-school remedial instruction and design a game to practice the steps of mastery learning.