Evaluation of effectiveness of web didactic game on activation of cognitive activity of the students in biology lessons

Abstract

In March 2010, Kazakhstan entered into the Bolon system of education (Independent Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, 2023). This decision has changed the system of education in the country and promoted a great number of new opportunities and challenges for the system of education as a whole. The programs of education at schools and universities changed, and new innovative methods of teaching and new learning programs were integrated (ENIC- KAZAKHSTAN, 2023). However, the level of education has not improved significantly (Azmukhanova A., Konuratova A., 2021). According to the results of the PISA research in natural sciences conducted in 2018, Kazakhstan was positioned in 69th place among 78 countries (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2019). The statistics show that the program of education in natural sciences needs to be modified. One such subject is biology. Biology is a science of life and it is one of the most dynamically developing sciences(Ching T, Himmelstein D. S., Beaulieu-Jones B. K., et al, 2018). Modern biology is not only about animals, plants, and human anatomy, it is becoming more and more molecular-based (Shen, Li, Lee, 2018). As a result, the subject is becoming data-intensive, and less accessible, and it demands a lot of time and concentration (Dianne J. Watters & James J. Watters, 2007). In addition, it is known that teenage students can concentrate on learning for 10-15 minutes on average while the information in the lesson requires more time to understand and memorize (Davis B. G., 2009). Moreover, social media entertainment apps and games distract students from learning. These problems reveal that the methods of teaching have to be modified further with the development of technologies and the internet. In 2017 the government of Kazakhstan approved the program of development "Digital Kazakhstan" (Digital Kazakhstan, 2023). According to that program, schools have to be equipped with all the necessary technologies. This improvement creates new opportunities to solve the problems of teaching biology. One of the possible solutions is web gamification of the lessons and virtual classes. The games that are used in the education process are called didactic games. A didactic game is a unique tool. It can delight students as a game and at the same time teach them something new (Abdurashitomova S. A., 2021). In modern schools, didactic games are used in the teaching process, but usually as additional material. Web didactic games are not popularized in in-class activities and are usually used to check the knowledge of the students. However, Anastasiadis claims that students prefer a more practical method of learning than traditional learning (2018). Therefore, this article claims that web didactic games can be an effective tool to attract, and entertain students as a game and teach them a new topic as effective as traditional classes.