International Journal of
Information and Education Technology

Abstract

This study investigates how an analog board game intervention, developed through Design Thinking and Design-Based Research (DBR), supports students’ immediate conceptual understanding of Newton’s Laws. A quasi-experimental design compared a Baseline condition, consisting of gameplay with general facilitation, with a Scaffolded condition, consisting of the same gameplay supplemented by brief, contingent academic clarification from a physics teacher. Participants were 50 Grade 11 students from a university-affiliated demonstration school in Thailand, with 25 students in each condition. Conceptual understanding was measured using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), and qualitative data were analyzed thematically to examine learning mechanisms. Results revealed domain-specific patterns of learning. After correction for multiple comparisons, the clearest post-correction between-group difference favoring the Scaffolded condition was observed for Newton’s Second Law reasoning. A positive pattern was observed for Newton’s First Law, but this difference did not remain statistically significant after correction. No significant between-group differences were found for Newton’s Third Law, suggesting that embedded board game mechanics may have supported immediate action-reaction reasoning in both conditions. Qualitative findings indicated that students’ immediate conceptual gains were mediated by epistemic feedback embedded in consequential game mechanics, peer explanation, and brief academic clarification during gameplay. The study proposes a preliminary Physics-Game-Based Learning (Physics-GBL) conceptual change framework and discusses implications for designing domain-sensitive analog game-based learning in secondary physics classrooms.