Using Digital Sandbox Gaming to Improve Creativity Within Boys’ Writing

There is a persistent “gender gap” in boys’ literacy in the United Kingdom. This article reports on one technology-based intervention that may aid teachers in supporting boys to develop creativity within their writing. Boys from a Year 3 class used Minecraft – a sandbox computer game – to create virtual worlds that might help them to visualize the environments they write about. Through preand post-tests of writing samples and focus group interviews with students, the study finds positive potential in the technology-based intervention. Discussions with the students showed that the boys did not believe they were good writers and they were not aware of what was expected of them when writing. However, it was also clear from the discussions that the boys enjoyed engaging with an interactive stimulus, which aided their thinking and provided them with new creative ideas for their writing. The results from the written task were inconclusive, suggesting the need for further research.

"The writing analysis showed that all the boys had either remained steady or improved their creative ideas and vocabulary choices. Thus, the students were found to have either benefited from using Minecraft to develop creativity and depth of insight into their castle designs or stayed steady. While the written pieces provided inconclusive evidence for substantial improvements in creative writing, the interviews with the students showed students’ belief that the intervention was positive in developing their creativity. The students largely signified that their use of Minecraft to develop their castles helped them to think more deeply and creatively in their written piece. Furthermore, the students signified their sense of excitement and engagement as a result of the intervention... the students perceived their engagement and confidence to have significantly increased as a result of the task. The task was widely believed by the students to be enjoyable and Table 2. Adapted marking grid based on Mackenzie et al.’s (2013) writing analysis tool. Rating Text structure Sentence structure and grammatical features Vocabulary 1 Message not clear Words are random. Uses simple words that are personally significant. 2 Unrelated ideas Uses appropriate sentence structure, including employing noun/verb agreement. Uses common and high frequency words. 3 Several related ideas Use of simple clauses and conjunctives. Uses everyday vocabulary (example: the Oxford list of 307 first words; or culturally relevant words). 4 Ideas sequenced and clearly related Use of simple and compound sentences. Use of adverbs to indicate when, where, how, or with. Uses a range of topic-specific vocabulary. 5 Evidence of structure that matches genre requirements Use of a variety of sentence structures and correct pronouns throughout. Uses a range of descriptive and emotive words. 6 Complex, with attention to purpose and audience Use of variety of sentence structures and lengths. Correct use of tense. Sentences flow. A range of phrases used to begin sentences. Unique or specific vocabulary used in the right context. Figurative language, such as metaphor and simile, employed. Table 3. Summary of students’ results in pre-tests and post-tests. Vocabulary Sentence structure Text structure Pre-test score Vocabulary Sentence structure Text structure Post-test score Change Student A 5 5 4 4.7 6 6 5 5.7 +1 Student B 4 3 2 3 5 4 3 4 +1 Student C 3 2 2 2.3 5 4 4 4.3 +2 Student D 5 4 3 4 5 5 2 4 0 Student G 2 2 3 2.3 2 2 3 2.3 0 Student H 3 3 2 2.7 3 4 1 2.7 0 282 M. ELLISON AND C. DREW stimulating for their subsequent written task. Second, the students perceived that the exercise helped them to generate creative ideas, which was corroborated by students’ “sentence structure” grades in the post-test. Lastly, and building on the previous point, more authorial depth was generated in the second written piece. Students generally used a wider range of vocabulary to describe specific elements of the castles, indicating greater confidence describing their castles." (Ellison and Drew, 2020: 282-3).