Game On! Using Video Games to Teach STEM in the Classroom

1. Game On!Using Video Games to Teach STEM in the Classroom Adrienne Evans Fernandez, Jamie Reaves Kirkley 4 February 2012

2. Agenda • Introductions • Games as teaching tools • Overview of the field • Getting support from stakeholders • AstroEngineer: Moon Rover (AEMR) • Review games and learning • Overview of AstroEngineer game • Review the AEMR Teacher’s Guide • Explore a demo of the game

3. Who Are We….. • WisdomTools, Inc. creates serious games and e-learning solutions for education and training • Use entertainment game approaches that engage and teach; game mapped to objectives and standards • Focus on STEM-focused games that teach difficult concepts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics • AstroEngineer: Moon Rover (released Aug 2010) • AeroEngineer: Race to Mars (TBR Aug 2012) • NanoMech (TBR Fall 2012)

4. The Challenge of STEM (Science, Math, Engineering & Mathematics) • U.S. is not able to fill STEM-related job positions due to lack of STEM graduates • Many students lose interest in STEM-related courses at the middle and high school levels • Minority and female students are more likely to discontinue taking STEM related courses (National Center for Education Statistics, 2005) • Minorities are underrepresented in high-level science, technology, engineering and math occupations (Leslie, 1998)

5. Serious Games • Serious games (a subset of computer educational games) seen as a way to engage students in STEM • Federation of American Scientists, Gates and MacArthur Foundations, Woodrow Wilson Institute, etc. etc. • White House office examining educational benefits of video games:http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-01-26/edcuational-video-games-white-house/52908052/1

6. Advantages of Using Serious Games in STEM • Take students to space!! • Reach students on their own terms; research shows they play HOURS of video games at home each week • Playing games motivates students, and motivated students learn more • Build student interest, engagement & learning in STEM • Teach concepts not possible in real life (i.e., dangerous) • Support inquiry-based learning • Combine with hands-on and other types of activities • Use games as part of project and problem based learning curricula

7. Serious Games & Learning • Serious games can facilitate: • Building interest and learning STEM content/careers • “Strategic thinking, problem solving, plan formulation and execution, and adaptation to rapid change” (Federation of American Scientists, 2006) • Players are given opportunities for challenge, strategy and problem-solving (Lazzaro, 2004). • Well-designed games can support: • Problem solving & decision making (Adams, 2006; Gee, 2003; Taradi, Taradi, Radic & Pokrajac, 2005) • Active learning (Winn, 2008) and creativity • Complex systems thinking and literacies (Steinkuhler, 2008) • Experiments, inventions, & learning by doing (Rickard & Oblinger, 2004) • Team-based challenges/collaboration (Bourgonjon, 2008) • Creativity (Jackson et al, 2011)

8. Serious Games & PBL • Games more effective when embedded in instructional program that includes feedback and debriefing (Hays, 2006) • Researchers have promoted the use of digital games within problem based learning environments (Annetta, Cook & Schultz, 2007; Kiili, 2005; Maxwell et al, 2004) • Natural ties between PBL and games (Annetta, Cook & Schultz, 2007; Kiili, 2005; Maxwell et al, 2004) • Both are learner centered • Both provide authentic challenges to solve • Both often require collaboration, negotiation, and problem solving

9. Disadvantages of Games • Implementation: • Technical support • Learning and curriculum Integration • Clarity of objectives/standards met • Monitoring learning and assessment • Assessment and monitoring of student learning • Debriefing and student report outs • Achievement of learning outcomes • Buy in from admin, parents and IT • Using games in ways that do not support effective STEM learning: • Game as reward only • Game as entertainment only • Babysitting tool • Little or no facilitation of learning in classroom

10. Games As Teaching Tools • History of using games to support learning • Oregon Trail, SimCity, Math Blaster • Current games and virtual worlds • River City, Wolfquest, Selene, Supercharged!, Whyville.net, WhyReef, Quest Atlantis, Eco MUVE, Electrical Endeavors • Similarities and differences between simulations, games & virtual worlds • Sims: First person, focus on realism/fidelity, algorithmic formula with time and conditions as variables • Games: Provide rewards, entertainment, learn by failure • Virtual Worlds: Persistent world, interactive community

11. Tips for Gaining Buy In • To get buy in from administrators and parents: • Write brief letter or newsletter article on the specific game and how it’s being used to support STEM learning in your classroom • Provide information on learning outcomes and provide images • To get buy in from IT: • Provide information on technical requirements • Have a back up plan in case Internet goes down!

12. AstroEngineer: Moon Rover

14. AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ • AstroEngineer: Moon Roveris an educational video game created to introduce middle school students to the engineering design process. • Developed in partnership with Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a non profit that provides middle and high engineering curriculum to schools in all 50 states

15. Project Lead the Way • PLTW approached us in 2009 to form a partnership. • Gateway to Technology: Middle school engineering curriculum • Wanted a product that required students to design solutions to a problem and reinforce the cyclic steps of the engineering design process. • You do NOT have to be affiliated with PLTW to use AstroEngineer: Moon Rover!

16. Engineering Design Process • Game play focuses on use of the engineering design process to : • Analyze mission requirements and key design criteria/constraints for an unmanned lunar rover • Design your rover to meet mission requirements by choosing among various parts (e.g., body type, wheel type, power source, and sensors) • Test your rover by driving it on an authentic lunar surface and under realistic conditions • Redesign your rover until the mission is successful and then move on to the next mission

17. Background of Game • Set 30 years in the future, the player is aboard the Goliath, a manned lunar mobile base stationed near the Mare Humorum • Core challenge in the game is design, test, and redesign a lunar rover based on specific engineering design criteria and constraints. • Players design smaller rovers; confronted with authentic lunar terrain, hazards, and environmental conditions

18. Overall Mission

19. Game Design • The game itself consists of five sets of missions (a tutorial, three regular missions, and a rescue mission) • Each mission is comprised of 4 to 5 legs, each with a different goal. • Speed • Durability • Collection of samples • Each leg will require a different configuration of parts in order to be successful!

20. Rover Construction Area

21. Test Your Rover Design

22. Mission Feedback Screen

23. AstroEngineerLeaderboard

24. AEMR Problem-Centered Curriculum Unit • Week long teaching unit with: • Game Introduction and Overall Challenge (10 min) • How can the different design choices that you make impact your rover’s performance? • What factors influence the design choices that you make? • What strategies can you use to improve your rover design? • Game Play (25 min) • Debriefing (15 min) • What was the core mission today? • What design criteria you were given? • What design constraints did you encounter? • How did you optimize your design?

25. Classroom Implementation • In a traditional 50 minute period students are expected to complete about 1 mission per day • On block schedules students can complete 2-3 missions per day.

26. Scientifically Authentic • Authentic • Lunar Geography • NASA Images • Vocabulary • Engineering process • Includes Earth and Space science objectives, including • Characteristics of the Lunar environment • Topographical characteristics and vocabulary (regolith, rilles, mares, etc.) • Specific locations and structures the game visits (craters, rimae, etc.) • Common elements and minerals found on the moon

27. As close as we could get.. • Design Simplifications: • Rover Parts & Capabilities (middle school audience) • Speeds • Pushing the Envelope…! • Presence of Ice on the Moon?

28. Research Findings • Research funded, in part, by NSF • Pre/post quasi-experimental study conducted with 341 middle school students (~equal number of males/females; racially diverse population) • Females = 54.4% of sample • Males = 45.6% of sample • Students played for ~2 hours (113 minutes) over one week period, or 45.2% of overall class time; does not include game introduction and debriefing sessions

29. Research Findings • Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine pre/post differences • Results indicated statistically significant differences in learning between the pre- and post-test (F [1, 681] = 475.135, p < .001, partial eta-squared = .411), with higher scores on the post-test • Both male and female students provided positive feedback on the game’s design, ease of use, and graphics

30. Supporting Educators • AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™ includes curriculum support • Teacher Guide • Student Guide • FAQs • Lesson plans • Enrichment activities

31. The Teacher’s Guide • AstroEngineer: Moon Rover includes documents to help you and your students get the most out of the game • The guide includes • Basic instructional and narrative overview • Learning objectives

32. The Teacher’s Guide • Getting started FAQ • Controls and parts overview for teachers • Mission flow charts

33. The Teacher’s Guide • Standards Alignment • ITEEA • NSES • NSTA • Glossary • General Moon Terms • Engineering Terms • Description of Parts

34. Student Guide • Includes • Game Overview • Getting Started Tips • Engineering design steps • Glossary

35. Supplemental Activities • Sometimes the internet goes down. • MINI Card Game!

36. Extension Opportunities • Additional activities that can extend the AstroEngineer: Moon Rover game out of the computer lab. • Tires for the Moon • Cost Analysis Activities

37. Release of AEMR • AstroEngineer was released in August 2010 to over 6000 PTLW teachers and 60,000 students, as well as 2500 students in Indiana’s NASA IGNITE STEM program • AstroEngineercan now be purchased and downloaded from: http://space.wisdomtools.com

38. Let’s Play!

39. Installation • When you get your drive, insert it into your USB port • Select which version you want to install (MAC or PC) and drag the file to your desktop. PLEASE NOTE: You cannot run it from the drive! • Double click to unzip (if needed), and have fun!

40. Questions? Contact us! http://www.wisdomtools.com • Adrienne Evans Fernandez • Lead Content and • Curriculum Game Designer • adrienne@wisdomtools.com • Jamie Kirkley • Chief Learning Officer, • Senior Instructional Designer • jamie@wisdomtools.com

41. AeroEngineer: Race to Mars • Serious game with five game modules and week-long curriculum unit designed to interest and teach high school students (10th - 12th grade), particularly females, about core aerospace engineering concepts