Keywords:
board game
computational thinking
artificial intelligence
border patrol schools

  • Abstract

    This study aimed to develop computational thinking and artificial intelligence (AI) skills and to enhance the learning achievement of primary school students in border patrol police schools through the implementation of a specially designed educational board game. The research adopted a one-group pretest‒posttest preexperimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The participants consisted of 45 primary school students selected through cluster sampling, including 15 students from the Chaloem Rat Bamrung Border Patrol Police School and 30 students from the Ban Huai Pao Border Patrol Police School. The research instruments included a board game quality assessment form, a computational thinking and artificial intelligence skills assessment, an interview form, and an achievement test. The theoretical foundation for board game development was derived from four key domains: learning psychology, computational thinking and AI foundations, media and technology theory, and contextual learning principles relevant to rural educational settings. The board game was designed to encourage problem decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, algorithm design, and comprehension of basic AI concepts such as perception, data representation, and machine learning. The findings revealed that students demonstrated notable improvement in both computational thinking and AI-related problem-solving skills after participating in the board game activities. Moreover, statistical analysis indicated a significant increase in students’ learning achievement at the 0.05 level, with the mean test score rising from 5.60 in the pretest to 14.13 in the posttest out of a total score of 20. These results suggest that integrating game-based learning strategies can effectively foster computational thinking and AI understanding among young learners in remote educational contexts, thereby promoting 21st-century skills development in primary education.

  • References

    1. Apostolellis, P., Stewart, M., Frisina, C., & Kafura, D. (2014). RaBit EscAPE: A board game for computational thinking. In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interaction Design and Children (pp. 349–352). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/2593968.261048
    2. Choeybal, P., Junwattanawong, R., Ksurimon, P., & Phaengbuppha, T. (2019). The needs in educational management of personnel under the border patrol police schools in Udonthani, Buengkan, and Loei. Udon Thani Rajabhat University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 8(2), 231–250. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/hsudru/article/view/188989/161434
    3. Eguchi, A., Okada, H., & Muto, Y. (2021). Contextualizing AI education for K-12 students to enhance their learning of AI literacy through culturally responsive approaches. Künstliche Intelligenz, 35(2), 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13218-021-00737-3
    4. Jantarasena, V., & Asanok, M. (2020). The effects of blended learning using visual programming to promote computational thinking, learning achievement and programming ability for primary 4 students. Journal of Legal Entity Management and Local Innovation, 6(2), 1–13. https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsa-journal/article/view/240162/164208
    5. Klausmeier, J. H. (1978). Cognitive development of children and youth. Academic Press.
    6. Kozma, R. B. (1991). Learning with media. Review of Educational Research, 61(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543061002179
    7. Mayer, R. E. (2005). Cognitive theory of multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (pp. 31–48). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816819.004
    8. Nachai, C., & Vongthatam, P. (2021). Designing and development of JUMP FOR BABY FROG board game to enhance problem solving thinking in step-by-step problem solving for late elementary school student. Journal of Education Khon Kaen University, 44(4), 1–19. https://so02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/EDKKUJ/article/view/248309
    9. Özkök, G. (2021). Fostering computational thinking through data visualization and design on secondary school students. Journal of Universal Computer Science, 27(3), 285–302. https://doi.org/10.3897/jucs.66265
    10. Pangkariya, C., & Poonpaiboonpipat, W. (2020). The effects of learning activities on ratio, proportion and percentage based upon STEM education on grade 7 students’ computational thinking ability. Journal of Education Innovation, 23(1), 116–130. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/edujournal_nu/article/view/242336
    11. Piaget, J. (1977). The development of thought: Equilibration of cognitive structures. Basil Blackwell.
    12. Rodríguez del Rey, Y. A., Cawanga Cambinda, I. N., Deco, C., Bender, C., Avello‐Martínez, R., & Villalba‐Condori, K. O. (2020). Developing computational thinking with a module of solved problems. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 29(3), 506–511. https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.22214
    13. Roobyai, C., Jomhongbhibhatphat, B., & Chaisena, M. (2025). Development of a model to promote the information literacy for the students at the border patrol school. TLA Research Journal, 18(1), 19–34. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/tla_research/article/view/278325
    14. Salomon, G. (1979). Media and symbol systems as related to cognition and learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71(2), 131–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.71.2.131
    15. Septiyanti, N. D., Shih, J., & Zakarijah, M. (2020). Fostering computational thinking through unplugged and robotic collaborative game-based learning on primary school students. American Journal of Educational Research, 8(11), 866–872. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-8-11-6
    16. Sittisak, R., Aroonsiwagool, A., Bangtho, K., Jai-on, K., & Damsri, C. (2022). Developing computational thinking of elementary school students with Scratch program. Suratthani Rajabhat Journal, 9(1), 140–158. https://so05.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/srj/article/view/247443/174664
    17. Sountonchot, S. (2022). Guidelines for the development of roles of border patrol police schools under border patrol police sub division bureau 14 for border security [Research report]. Royal Thai Army War College. http://www.awc.ac.th/storage/research/802.pdf
    18. Su, J., & Zhong, Y. (2022). Artificial intelligence (AI) in early childhood education: Curriculum design and future directions. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, 100072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100072
    19. Sumlee, P., & Phumpuang, K. (2021). The development of unplugged coding set of activities to enhance computational thinking skills for student in kindergarten 3. Journal of Research and Innovation Institute of Vocational Education Bangkok, 4(2), 181–198. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ivebjournal/article/view/248604
    20. Sungkaew, K., Phophet, C., Yingmuang, S., & Kaewnamrung, C. (2023). The design and development of a digital game for young children to train computational thinking skills like a programmer. Journal of Applied Statistics and Information Technology, 8(2), 39–56. https://ph02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/asit-journal/article/view/249134/169803
    21. Thammabut, T., Chueakun, P., Kaewthon, R., & Wonganu, P. (2022). The development of a board game to enhance computational thinking skill and motivation in computer programming course for undergraduate students. Journal of Information and Learning, 33(3), 34–45. https://doi.org/10.14456/jil.2022.28
    22. Tian, S. (2024). Exploring the interactive relationship between computational thinking and the development of artificial intelligence. Journal of Electronic Engineering Research, 9(2), 177–180. https://doi.org/10.54097/2zzt5026
    23. Touretzky, D., Gardner-McCune, C., Martin, F., & Seehorn, D. (2019). Envisioning AI for K–12: What should every child know about AI? Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 33(1), 9795–9799. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v33i01.33019795
    24. Von Wangenheim, C. G., De Medeiros, G. A. E. S., Missfeldt Filho, R., Petri, G., Pinheiro, F. D. C., Ferreira, M. N. F., & Hauck, J. C. (2019). Splash Code—A board game for learning an understanding of algorithms in middle school. Informatics in Education, 18(2), 259–280. https://doi.org/10.15388/infedu.2019.12
    25. Vongtathum, P., Samat, C., & Singha, P. (2021). Designing of smart coding creative kit to enhance creative problem solving thinking for children. Journal of Arts and Sciences, 8(2), 74–88. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/JAS_CPRU/issue/view/17272/4627
    26. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
    27. Wei-Chen, K., & Ting-Chia, H. (2020). Learning computational thinking without a computer: How computational participation happens in a computational thinking board game. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 29, 67–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-019-00479-9
    28. Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33–35. https://doi.org/10.1145/1118178.1118215
    29. Winn, W. (2004). Cognitive perspectives in psychology. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of educational communications and technology: A project of the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 79–112). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
    30. Yaiwong, P., & Onthanee, A. (2023). The development of unplugged coding game package for enhancing computational thinking skill for primary school student. Journal of Learning Innovation and Technology, 3(1), 25–34. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/JLIT/article/view/258634/177575
    31. Zerega, R., & Milrad, M. (2023). Computational thinking & artificial intelligence in K-12 education: Two distinct but still complementary worlds. In M. Milrad et al. (Eds.), Methodologies and Intelligent Systems for Technology Enhanced Learning: 13th International Conference, MIS4TEL 2023 (pp. 207–218). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41226-4_22
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2025 The Authors

How to cite

Wonganu, P., Luerngam, P., Makhanpan, I., & Thammabut, T. (2026). Development of computational thinking and artificial intelligence skills through a board game for primary students in Border Patrol Police Schools. Multidisciplinary Science Journal, 8(8), 2026482. https://doi.org/10.31893/multiscience.2026482
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
  • Article viewed - 379
  • PDF downloaded - 206