Philippine E-Journals

The Use of Researcher-Made Geography Games in Enhancing Students’ Performance in Naming Asian Countries: A Qualitative Action Research

Edu Lavega | Almar Gabriel | Christian Jade Gadogdog

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

One of the most challenging aspects of learning the Araling Panlipunan subject is becoming familiar with the locations of countries and naming them. This study seeks to enhance the performance of students in naming Asian countries through the implementation of researcher-made geography games that will serve as an intervention. The researchers of this study used the generic qualitative approach. The intervention followed a three steps process wherein an indepth interview was given before the entire session to know how students describe their performance in naming Asian countries. After conducting the pre-intervention interview, the researchers have begun to conduct the intervention. There was a total of six sessions. Afterward, a post-intervention in- depth interview was given as the last step. The responses were collated and analyzed. The study shows participants' average knowledge and performance in naming Asian countries. This is constituted by four underlying factors, which are: unfamiliarity with Asian countries; unfamiliarity with location; difficulty in the pronunciation of country names; and difficulties in the spelling of unfamiliar country names. After the intervention, four major themes were generated: gained knowledge of countries' names; improved familiarity with the location of countries; established prior knowledge of geography; and eliciting interest in learning geography. It also shows four significant themes in students' insights on the use of the intervention: the need to improve geographical knowledge; reading and studying geography-related materials; incorporation of various approaches in learning geography; and fun learning. The study's results prove that using researcher-made geography games significantly influences students' performance through the gained knowledge and the pertained positive learning behavior, yet still makes learning enjoyable.