RESEARCH PLAN

ASTREXPLORE: AN EDUCATIONAL GAME ABOUT ASTRONOMY

Errold Francis R. Briones

Louie Andrew E. Francisco
Hennuel Bonjoben A. Cardinal

ROBOTICS: Systems Software (Team)

A. Rationale

Games also are part of our lives as an entertainment and to fight boredom. But,
video games also have bad effects like addiction, poor performance, suffering from
relationships, increased aggression and many more (Christopher, 2017). However,
educational games also have good effects for students like learning retention, greater
appreciation of diversity and it has subject area focus (Mak, 2016).

Because of the problem where people are getting addicted to games, we decided to
make an educational game which will help people to learn instead of getting addicted.
Educational games also has good effects for students like learning retention, greater
appreciation of diversity and it has subject area focus (Mak, 2016). Being able to learn
more about astronomy helps the child become more interested and enjoy learning it. The
researchers also aim to help Senior High School studentsto learn Astronomy through an
interactive mobile game.

A.1. Statement of the Problem

The study Astrexplore: An educational game about astronomy aims to conduct a

survey whether the creation of the mobile game is preferable for Senior High Students of
its effectiveness in terms of graphics, sound, controls, accuracy of answers, time and
gameplay.
 Specifically, the study aims to answer the following research questions:

1. Is the Astrexplore: An educational game about astronomy game running

smoothly?

2. Is the Astrexplore: An educational game about astronomy good based on the

following: graphics, gameplay, controls, sound, accuracy of answers and time?

3. What is the mean of Astrexplore: An educational game about astronomy as Senior

High School students preference in terms of graphics, gameplay, controls, sound,
accuracy of answers and time?

A.2. Expected outcomes

Astrexplore: An educational game about astronomy is effective in terms of graphics,

gameplay, controls, sound, accuracy of answers and time.

A.3. Proposed Hypothesis

Ho: The study Astrexplore: An educational game about astronomy is not good based

on the following graphics, controls, sound, accuracy of answers, time and gameplay.

A.4 Conceptual framework

Conceptual framework below shows the level of acceptability of the
Astrexplore: An Education Game about Astronomy.

Level of Acceptability
Graphics Control Astrexplore: An Education Game
Sound Accuracy of Answers about Astronomy.
Time Gameplay

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Figure 1. A schematic diagram, showing the Level of Acceptability in
terms of Graphics, Sound, Time, Control, Accuracy of Answers and Gameplay as
independent variable and Astrexplore: An Educational Game about Astronomy as
dependent variable.
A.5 Scope and limitations
The study will be conducted on the Senior High School building of Regional
Science High School for Region VI, Old Buswang, Kalibo, Aklan. The participants of the
study will be the Senior High School students of RSHS VI. Grab sampling technique will
be used to select participants in the study. The data analysis to be used will be mean
scoring.

B. Proposed materials

The materials to be used are the following: smartphone, laptop/computer, Corona

SDK and Adobe Photoshop.

B.1. Proposed procedures

The study will be conducted at the SHS building at Regional Science High School

for Region VI, Old Buswang, Kalibo, Aklan.

Designing of the game

(Blueprint)

Downloading of
application for game

Coding and
Programming

Testing of the game

Data collection

Data analysis

Conclusion

Figure 1. Procedural Flow

Designing of game
The ASTREXPLORE: Mission Back to Earth proposed mobile game will be
designed with different purpose like background of the game, main goal of the game,
gameplay, loading, icon or logo of the game, sounds and concept.

Downloading of Application for game

The application builder that will be used in creating the game will be Corona
SDK, it will be downloaded and will be installed in the laptop for programming and
coding, while Adobe Photoshop will be used to design the buttons, background and other
graphics related to the game.

Coding and Programming

The ASTREXPLORE: Mission Back to Earth proposed mobile game will be
created with the guidance and supervision of the adult-sponsor and qualified scientist.
The game will be created through Corona SDK and different codes will be encoded. The
buttons and graphics will be designed in Adobe Photoshop and will be transferred on
Corona SDK for to be coded for the functions to work. The mobile game will be
transferred to a smartphone for testing.

Testing of the game

The game will be tested by running it in a smartphone and will be checked for
bugs. A survey will be conducted through a scoring rubric to the Senior High School
student participants’ of Regional Science High School for Region VI in order to get the
student participants’ perception based on the graphics, controls, sound, time, accuracy of
answers and gameplay, and also a suggestion box will also be included for suggestions on
improving the game.
Data Collection

Data will be collected on the Senior High School Building on Regional Science
High School for Region VI with the use of scoring rubrics. The scoring rubric forms will
contain table for the rating, rubrics and statements which will help the participants to rate
the game. Grab sampling is a technique in which is a single sample or measurement is
taken at a specific time or over as short as a period is feasible. Grab sampling technique
will be used to select the participants.

Data Analysis

Data that will be obtained from the survey forms will be added to get the grand total
and will divided by 30 to get the grand mean score.

C. Proposed data collecting tool

The data will be collected through the written responses of student participants’ on
prepared scoring sheets.

C.1 Data analysis

The data collected will be determined of its total sum and mean. The mean scores
that will be obtained will be used as basis for making descriptions and interpretations
about the Level of Acceptability in terms of graphics, controls, sound, time, accuracy of
answers and gameplay.

Below are the numerical scales with respective descriptions that will be used in the
study.

Scale for rating:

Mean Description
4.50 – 5.00 Excellent
3.50 – 4.49 Very Good
2.50 – 3.49 Good
1.50 – 2.49 Fair
1.00 – 1.49 Needs Improvement
D. Risk and Safety

Human Informed Consent form will be distributed to the student participants’ prior
to the conduct of the study. Proper coordination and permission to the School Principal
will be conducted. Personal information of the student participants’ will be kept
confidential.

REFERENCES

Sachs, 2017; Number of phone users in the world. Retrieved from

https://www.statista.com/statistics/274774/forecast-of-mobile-phone-users-
worldwide/

Sachs, 2017; Number of gamers in the world. Retrieved from

https://www.statista.com/statistics/748044/number-video-gamers-world/

Christopher,2017; Bad effects of video games, Retrieved from

https://www.livestrong.com/article/278074-negative-effects-of-video-game-
addiction

Mak,2016; Good effects of educational games, Retrieved from

http://www.gamification.co/2016/01/20/3-beneficial-impact-games-education-
students/