Can game-based learning can help teachers bridge the gap between engagement and academic achievement by pairing science content with the kind of interactive experiences students already love?
Teaching science in the upper elementary grades can be an uphill climb. After pandemic-related disruptions, Florida statewide science proficiency rates dropped sharply, from 55% in 2018 to 47% in 2021. At the same time, today’s students are growing up in an interactive, screen-saturated world. Between 2019 and 2021, daily screen time for children ages 8–12 in the U.S. rose by nearly an hour, with much of that time spent playing video games like Roblox and Minecraft.
The challenge for schools isn’t just to teach science; it’s to capture and sustain students’ attention. Research shows that increasing student engagement with their learning is one of the keys to raising test scores.
Research shows that increasing student engagement with their learning is one of the keys to raising test scores.
To better understand and address this issue, we are studying how an online, standards-aligned, game-based platform can enhance science instruction and encourage student participation in science learning. Supported by an Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Mid-phase grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the project brings together Impact Florida, Legends of Learning, and WestEd to develop and test a scalable, evidence-based model for using game-based learning to boost science learning outcomes in one large Florida district. Now wrapping up its second year, the five-year project has already yielded valuable insights.
Learning Science Through Games
In the first two years, the project’s formative research phase has focused on understanding how teachers and students use the platform in classrooms. In addition, district leaders, teachers, and students made suggestions on how to improve the platform.
Teachers reported feeling that game-based learning supports their science instruction and students enjoyed using the game-based learning platform, calling it fun and educational. Also, teachers and students alike said game-based learning helps foster deeper understanding.
“One of my students . . . was confused between weathering and erosion. And he came up to me and he’s like, ‘I was playing the game and now I really understand it because in the game it showed us.” Fifth grade science teacher
This kind of feedback highlights the power of game-based learning to strengthen comprehension.
Another important finding from the project’s early research is that teachers need seamless ways to connect game-based learning to their existing curriculum and instructional activities.
Many said they loved the games but wanted to more easily find those aligned to current standards or lessons. In the next phase, the project is implementing updated features that strengthen the connection between classroom instruction and game-based learning, including:
- District-endorsed assignments that align with local pacing guides – Administrators can pre-select games and activities aligned with district curricula.
- Personalized learning mode – The recommendation of games to students based on real-time performance.
- Data dashboards – Teachers and administrators can view reports that connect gameplay to learning goals and standards.
These updates will make it easier for teachers to use the game-based learning platform effectively while saving valuable planning time, and for schools to integrate game-based learning into their science instruction at scale.
Game Plan for the Future
Over the next three years, our team will develop and test game-based learning implementation models, conduct a large-scale impact study to determine if classrooms using the game-based learning platform versus those who are not using it show differences in student science learning outcomes, and share findings with educators nationwide.
Across one large Florida district, classrooms are already buzzing with energy as students explore, experiment, and level up their science learning.
