Using Minecraft Education Edition to Enhance 21st Century Skills in the College Classroom: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Our study explores how Minecraft: Education Edition could be used to enhance students’ social-emotional development at the college level. In this paper, we report on the pilot phase of our study, which includes data from first-year college students in a university in the U.S. The mixed methods approach was used: observation of the participants playing Minecraft: Education Edition and surveys before and after the gameplay. Our pilot study illustrates the impact of collaborative and competitive gameplay on college students' development and enhancement of computational thinking and empathy. We discuss the interpretations of the pilot study results and conclude our paper by outlining the next steps of our project and future research avenues.