A Development of a game-based supplementary e-learning program for english for veterinary profession I

Abstract

In the era of globalization, gam-based learning is one of the options that teachers implement with the students both inside and outside the classroom. This study focuses on the role of edutainment at the tertiary level. The context is the teaching and learning of English for Veterinary Profession I (Eng Vet Prof I) for 2nd year students at Chulalongkorn University Language Institute (CULI) in Bangkok, Thailand. This course focuses on improving the students’ listening and speaking skills in the Veterinary field. In order to make the materials relevant and attractive to Net Gen learners, a game-based supplementary e-learning program, so-called CULI ZOO, being now considered as an alternative pedagogy, adaptable for Net Gen, has been developed. Game based learning has been shown to increase students’ learning ability, promote learner autonomy, motivate the students to learn, and engage students in a meaningful, interactive environment of learning. The purposes of the study presentation are to develop an effective game-based supplementary e-learning program for students in English for Veterinary Profession I and to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. As for the sample group of the study, the second year Veterinary Science students who enrolled in the English for Veterinary Profession I course in 2014 and 2015 served as the control group and the experimental group, respectively. Both groups did the same pretest at the beginning of the course. The results from the t-test confirmed that both groups were comparable. Only the 2015 students were exposed to CULI ZOO. The scores from the midterm and final examinations were counted as posttest scores. After the experimental group students finished playing CULI ZOO, they had a chance to complete a set of the questionnaires eliciting their attitude toward CULI ZOO. Also, sixteen students were randomly selected for the interviews. As for the findings, the results, obtained from the t-test, showed a statistically significant difference in the posttest scores between both groups at a significance level of 0.05. Likewise, there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the students’ in the experimental group. As for the students’ attitude, the data from the questionnaires and interviews explicated that the students in the experimental group had positive toward CULI ZOO. Last but not least, in the experimental group, the students’ total scores from CULI ZOO correlated to their scores from the posttest.