Between aspiration and reality: digital game implementation in NSW secondary history education

Abstract

The use of digital games across all demographics is well established and growing (Pinheiro et al., 2024). Due to digital games ability to demand attention, create enjoyment and interest in the subject matter of the game from its users, it is therefore not a surprise that for several decades video games have been the subject of inquiry on how they may be used to enhance student’s learning (Cole et al, 2023). The focus of most of this research however has been on students and not teachers. Furthermore, when teachers are examined, they are treated a s a homologous group with little reference to the particularities of their teaching area. An example of such a group are history teachers, despite growth in educational digital gaming, Australian secondary history teachers lack clear digital game pedagogy guidelines. Although the Department of Education encourages New South Wales (NSW) schools to engage with digital learning technologies, professional development on digital games is limited. The Schools Digital Strategy Full report (Department of Education, 2019) aimed to improve digital services through addressing existing issues including connectivity, investment in devices, and infrastructure. Whilst the Schools Digital Strategy (SDS) refers to computer games, the lived realities of NSW secondary history teachers using digital games have not received rigorous attention in the research literature. The result of this lack of attention is that there is a dearth of evidence-based knowledge or understanding about the use of digital game pedagogy by history teachers. This study aimed to address this gap by investigating how and why NSW secondary history teachers implement digital games. Digital games are used as an umbrella term in this study to capture the variety of games available to teachers including drill games, serious games, video games, and gamification. A mixed method was employed; a scoping review to determine a baseline for current academic research; an audit of NSW initial teacher education programs exploring digital game pedagogy, surveys and interviews, the data from which were analysed using response frequency coding and thematic analysis, before being mapped against the SDS to identify meta-inferences across the findings. The implications of this study indicate the need for professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers, and policy intervention to support the digital game requirements of 21st century students.

Date of Thesis submission	2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Nathan Berger (Supervisor) & Roberto Parada (Supervisor)