THE ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL LEVEL IN TEACHERS' BELIEFS AND USE OF EDUCATIONAL GAMES

Despite the use of educational games seems to spread across all educational levels from kindergarten to higher education, previous research suggests that beliefs and use of educational games can be affected by the educational level. To gain a better knowledge of the role that educational level plays on teachers' beliefs (attention and perceived relevance) and use of educational games, an exploratory study was conducted on a sample of 108 teachers teaching in five educational levels: kindergarten, primary education, secondary education, high school, and vocational education. The role of age, gender, and the subject being taught were also analysed. Main results suggest statistically significant differences on teachers' beliefs (attention and perceived relevance) across educational levels. Age affected teachers' beliefs of attention and perceived relevance while gender and the subject being taught were not found to affect the analysed variables. Results also suggest differences between educational levels in the use of educational games with lower educational levels (especially kindergarten and primary education) using educational games more than higher educational levels. Implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and future research lines are also addressed.