ABSTRACT
This study examined the use of play-based strategies to increase enthusiasm for learning in Mabuhay District and described their perceived effect on classroom participation and confidence. The investigation focused on five dimensions of play-based practice: determining the purpose of game-based learning; making sure it is aligned with learning goals; ensuring that it meets expectations from parents; dedicating time to consistent in-class play; and assessing progress throughout play. A descriptive survey method was employed using a questionnaire-checklist as the principal data-gathering instrument. The respondents were 19 school administrators and 162 teachers from Mabuhay District during the first semester of School Year 2025–2026. The instrument contained 25 predetermined statements, five for each dimension, rated through a four-point continuum from Never Practiced to Always Practiced. Weighted mean and ranking were used to describe the responses, while a t-test was used to determine whether the responses of school administrators and teachers differed significantly.
The findings indicated that all five dimensions were rated Always Practiced. Determining the purpose of game-based learning obtained the highest overall mean of 3.61, followed by assessing progress throughout play (3.56), ensuring that play-based activities met parents’ expectations (3.55), making sure activities were aligned with learning goals (3.54), and dedicating time to consistent in-class play (3.53). The overall pattern showed that play-based strategies were consistently practiced by teachers and were associated in the study with increased classroom participation, confidence, and engagement. However, the comparison between the two respondent groups yielded a statistically significant difference: the computed t-value of 3.846 exceeded the tabular value of 2.306 at the 5% level of significance with 8 degrees of freedom. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected. The findings support the continued and deliberate use of play-based strategies, particularly when games are clearly connected to learning objectives, monitored for learner progress, communicated to parents, and allotted adequate instructional time.
The study concludes that play-based strategies constitute a consistently practiced approach in Mabuhay District and provide a practical framework for promoting learner engagement, classroom participation, and confidence. The results also indicate the importance of continued coordination between school administrators and teachers so that implementation is understood and applied consistently across schools.
Keywords: play-based strategies; game-based learning; learner engagement; classroom participation; learner confidence; Mabuhay District; educational management
INTRODUCTION
Learning becomes more meaningful when learners are actively involved in the process rather than merely receiving information. The study on play-based strategies in Mabuhay District was anchored on the view that educational games and playful learning experiences can stimulate curiosity, motivation, creativity, exploration, problem solving, collaboration, and a positive attitude toward schooling. The thesis describes play-based learning as a teaching approach that allows learners to explore different parts of games as a form of learning and notes that games may be designed by teachers or developed collaboratively with learners and other education specialists. In this perspective, play is not treated simply as recreation; it is deliberately connected with academic content and instructional purposes.
The thesis further emphasizes that games can enliven teaching topics, particularly when lessons involve problem solving and key concepts. It draws on the position attributed to Fuscard (2001) that games can contribute to learner self-confidence. Games can complement conventional teaching approaches by providing variety, stimulating innovative thinking, encouraging creativity, and serving as triggers for discussion. The original study also points out that modern educational environments increasingly use technological and game-based resources to address the challenge of sustaining learner attention in groups characterized by different personalities, capabilities, and learning preferences.
Game-based learning is presented in the thesis as a process in which subject matter and learning objectives are embedded within games. A well-designed learning game is expected to connect the objectives of instruction with engaging experiences while giving learners opportunities to choose actions, experience consequences, receive feedback, and reflect on their performance. The study also recognizes that game-based learning requires careful alignment with curriculum objectives. Games may be engaging, but their instructional value depends on whether they support the intended learning outcomes and can be implemented meaningfully within the classroom.
The local context of Mabuhay District provides an important reason for examining this approach. The thesis notes that sustaining learners’ enthusiasm for learning can be challenging, particularly in a setting where learners come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. It also identifies reliance on conventional lecture-based methods as a concern when these methods do not sufficiently respond to learners’ developmental and engagement needs. Play-based strategies were therefore considered as a possible way of making learning more accessible, inclusive, active, and meaningful.
The original thesis situates the study within concerns about academic performance in Mabuhay District. It reports National Achievement Test mean percentage scores of 36.75% in School Year 2016–2017 and 35.46% in School Year 2017–2018 and contrasts these results with the Department of Education aspiration of at least 75% mastery. These figures were used in the thesis as part of the rationale for exploring alternative and more engaging teaching approaches. The present publication retains that context because it is part of the documented basis for the study; it does not, however, claim that play-based strategies alone caused changes in achievement.
The conceptual framework of the study was derived from a five-step approach to game-based learning attributed in the thesis to Guido. The five dimensions were: (1) determine the purpose of game-based learning; (2) make sure it is aligned with learning goals; (3) ensure that it meets expectations from parents; (4) dedicate time to consistent in-class play; and (5) assess progress throughout play and inform instruction. These dimensions became the basis of the questionnaire and the organization of the results.
Determining the purpose of game-based learning is important because a game should have a clearly identifiable instructional function. The teacher needs to know what the game is expected to accomplish, what learning objectives it addresses, and how it connects with the lesson. In the study, this dimension also included explaining how selected games support classroom participation and confidence and emphasizing the importance of linking the play-based approach to learners and colleagues.
Alignment with learning goals is equally important. The study framework stresses that the chosen game should directly support intended learning outcomes and remain relevant to instructional goals. This dimension included checking consistency with curriculum objectives, matching game design with subject competencies, and aligning the purpose of each game with short- and long-term educational aims. Such alignment helps prevent games from becoming activities that are enjoyable but disconnected from learning.
The involvement of parents represents another dimension of implementation. The thesis recognizes that parents may have expectations concerning the balance between enjoyment and academic rigor. Gathering feedback, consulting parents, addressing concerns, and explaining how game-based learning supports classroom participation and confidence can strengthen understanding and acceptance of the approach. Parent involvement may also help connect classroom activities with the broader learning environment.
Consistency of classroom implementation was treated as a fourth dimension. The thesis argues that sporadic play-based activities may not be sufficient for learners to benefit fully from the approach. Teachers therefore need to allocate regular time for structured play, maintain a consistent schedule, and devote sufficient instructional time for games to become a meaningful part of classroom instruction.
The fifth dimension, assessment of progress throughout play, places monitoring and feedback at the center of implementation. The study framework describes the collection of information from games as a means of identifying learner difficulties and strengths and of shaping subsequent instruction. In the questionnaire, this dimension included tracking participation, monitoring outcomes of play-based tasks, evaluating changes in learner confidence, analyzing classroom behaviors, and assessing learners’ ability to apply concepts introduced through play.
The literature reviewed in the thesis also presents play as a context for social and emotional development. Ragsdale’s play-based strategies, as cited in the original study, include using icebreakers to build relationships, using games to establish group norms, building emotional intelligence, letting learners teach one another, and using creativity and music to reinforce content. These strategies support the idea that play can create opportunities for communication, collaboration, expression, and peer learning.
The thesis also discusses six components of play-based learning attributed to Kampen: process-focused, imaginative, entertaining, structured or unstructured, exploratory, and self-directed. These components suggest that the value of play lies not only in the final product but also in the learning process. Learners can explore, make decisions, test ideas, and build understanding through interaction with materials, peers, and teachers.
Parten’s stages of play are also reviewed in the thesis, progressing from unoccupied and solitary play through onlooker, parallel, associative, and cooperative play. Of particular relevance to classroom learning is cooperative play, in which learners work together toward shared outcomes, exchange ideas, accept roles, and develop communication and conflict-resolution skills. Although the present study does not measure stages of play directly, the review provides theoretical support for the social and collaborative dimensions of game-based learning.
The theory of game-based learning presented in the thesis is associated with constructivist learning, practice and experience, motivation, reflection, feedback and self-control, process monitoring, creativity, soft skills, and digitalization. Constructivist learning emphasizes learner participation and the construction of procedures for solving problems. Games can provide safe settings in which learners experiment, receive feedback, reflect on decisions, and improve through repeated practice.
The distinction between game-based learning and gamification is also relevant. The thesis explains that game-based learning integrates game elements with instructional content so that the game itself serves as the training or learning experience. Gamification, in contrast, applies game mechanics such as points, badges, levels, or leaderboards to an existing learning context. The present study is concerned with play-based and game-based approaches in which activities are deliberately connected with learning objectives.
Vocabulary and language development are discussed in the original review because playful activities may provide opportunities for word use, interaction, contextual learning, and communication. The thesis notes that vocabulary knowledge supports reading development and comprehension and that intentional instruction can include word play activities to motivate learners. While language proficiency was mentioned in the conceptual discussion, the empirical variables actually measured in this investigation were the five play-based strategy dimensions.
The research problem therefore centers on how consistently these five dimensions were practiced by teachers and how school administrators and teachers viewed their implementation. The study sought to determine the extent to which the strategies were practiced, compare the two respondent groups, and test whether their responses differed significantly.
Specifically, the study asked: What play-based strategies to increase engagement for learning were practiced by teachers in terms of determining the purpose of game-based learning, alignment with learning goals, meeting parents’ expectations, dedicating time to consistent in-class play, and assessing progress throughout play? How often were these strategies practiced? What was the extent of comparability between the responses of school administrators and teachers? Was there a significant difference between their responses?
The null hypothesis stated that there was no significant difference between the responses of school administrators and teachers along the five variables on play-based strategies to increase engagement for learning. The publication retains this hypothesis because it was the inferential basis of the original investigation.
The study was limited to Mabuhay District and involved 19 school administrators and 162 teachers. The original thesis identified 19 elementary schools in the district and stated that the study was conducted during the first semester of School Year 2025–2026. The results therefore describe the perceptions reported by the selected respondents within that specific context and period.
The significance of the study lies in its potential use by school administrators, teachers, parents, community stakeholders, and learners. For administrators, the findings can provide evidence for supporting instructional practices that promote active participation. For teachers, the results can provide a framework for planning games around learning objectives, monitoring learner progress, and observing learner characteristics in less stressful settings. For parents and stakeholders, the findings highlight the importance of understanding how play can be connected to academic learning. For learners, the approach may provide opportunities to participate, communicate, collaborate, and develop confidence.
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