Building Problem Solving Skills Through Serious Games in the United Arab Emirates: A Quasi-Experimental Study
[Thesis]
Gilbert Briones
Rademaker, Linnea
Northcentral University
2016
201
Committee members: Jeter, Nari; Wetzler, Elizabeth
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-339-41722-6
Ed.D.
Education
Northcentral University
2016
Problem solving is an important 21st century skill which is necessary for new employees to be successful in the workplace. However, business leaders around the world have expressed concerns that recent graduates and new employees lack adequate problem solving skills. Standardized test scores have indicated that young adults in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are scoring poorly in problem solving. Educators need to begin examining strategies for developing students' problem solving skills to prepare them for the 21st century workplace. One strategy that has shown promise is the use of serious games to develop problem solving skills. Serious games are computer games that are used for teaching and learning. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to determine the effectiveness of using serious games to develop problem solving skills of UAE college mathematics students. Two groups of students, ages 18 to 20 years old, played Lumosity serious games for 12 weeks that were designed to develop problem solving skills. One group played the Lumosity games focusing on problem solving and the other group played games focusing on different cognitive skills. The Reynolds Adaptable Intelligence Test was the instrument used to measure students' problems solving skills. Test data were examined using a mixed ANOVA to determine any effect of serious game playing. The analysis showed mixed results on the effects of serious games on the development of problem solving skills. The findings indicated that the use of serious games may be a viable strategy for improving problem solving skills of UAE college students.