Abstract:

The goal of the study is to investigate the relationships in science learning between students' perception of skill and content, their perception of task challenges, and the state of FLOW. The sample consisted of 2 classes in the same secondary school that studied energy for 20 hours using the same national syllabus. One class (n=32) studied according to an "Active Science Games" (ASG) program integrating into the curriculum games and competitions. The program maintained high and balanced levels of challenge and skills as recommended by FLOW theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).The other class (n=28) studied according to the "Scientific and Technological Excellence" (STE) in a traditional manner. A Likert type questionnaire regarding students' self-reported FLOW state and its characteristics, was designed based on Csikszentmihalyi & LeFevre, (1989) and administered to all the students. Interviews were performed with the teachers and the students. The results show a significant correlation between students' self-perception of their state of FLOW to the following characteristics: degree of enjoyment in class (0.80), time distortion (0.78), remembering details from what they studied in class (0.56) and their learning and understanding the concept of energy (0.59). The results show that students' perceptions of balanced high levels of skill and challenge are related to high levels of FLOW. This result supports the rationale of the ASG program that included highly challenging tasks and at the same time supports the attainment of high levels of skill and content. It is suggested that programs that integrate games and competitions and attempt to balance the levels of skill and challenge have the potential to enable learners to realize their potential of ZPF (Zone of Proximal Flow) (Basawapatna, Repenning, Koh, & Nickerson, 2013). Moreover such programs can break some "school culture" habits, by enhancing students' internal motivation to seek challenges in order to reach a high state of Flow.

References:
[1] Basawapatna, A. R., Repenning, A., Koh, K. H., & Nickerson, H. (2013). The zones of proximal flow Guiding Students Through a Space of Computational Thinking Skills and Challenges. In Proceedings of the ninth annual international ACM conference on International computing education research - ICER ’13 (p. 67). New York, New York, USA: ACM Press. doi:10.1145/2493394.2493404
[2] Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). FLOW : The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
[3] Csikszentmihalyi, M., & LeFevre, J. (1989). Optimal experience in work and leisure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(5), 815–22. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2724069

Keywords:

FLOW, Active-science, games, competitions.