A Learning Game: 'Pun Pang's Economics Adventures'

摘要

This study was aimed 1) to develop a learning game entitled "Pun & Pang's Economics Adventures", 2) to assess the quality of the game, 3) to evaluate the players' satisfaction towards the game, and 4) to measure their knowledge before and after playing the game. Parts of the contents in this game are in compliance with the course in Basic Economics, in the learning domain of Society and Culture according to the Foundation Educational Curriculum 2544 B.E. for Grade 6 students. The game was designed with a type-and-click format. The concept behind the game was that during the adventure in each town, players need to solve economic problems in each town. Therefore, players do not only enjoy themselves with the game but also gain knowledge. The special features of this game lie in the appeals of characters, scenes and interaction between players and the game. In terms of game development, it began with scriptwriting and sketches with outlines to describe the events. Afterwards, characters and scenes were designed and created according to the sampling group. The animations were made in accordance with the descriptions and the events. The voices were recorded and these voices were from the children who had the same age as the sampling group. The pictures and sounds were edited and then the program was developed to control various systems in the game. All components were combined to complete the project. The quality of the game as assessed by the experts was at good level. The majority of the sampling group were satisfied with the game. As for the knowledge test, the sampling group gained more knowledge in accordance with higher score. Therefore, the learning game could be used as a supplement for the course in Basic Economics for children. Moreover, this idea could be adopted to develop learning games in other subject areas as well as for online format.