1.Alternative Approaches to Educational Experience Brian Moriarty zCon East 2013 October 21, 2013

2. Overview Introduction and History Motivation: The Problem Development of Gaming Environments for STEM education Educational Game Development Current Status of Game Systems for Education Forthcoming Design and DevelopmentResearch on Effectiveness of Game Environments Recap and Next Steps 3. Oregon Trail 4. Apple II 5. TRS-80 6. The LOGO Turtle 7. Introduction and History Games in education are not new Johan Huizinga: Homo Ludens Jean Piaget: Theories of Play A.M. Mood and R.D. Specht: (War)Gaming as a Technique of Analysis Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger: Oregon Trail 8. Assassins Creed: Educational Tool? 9. Motivation In USA only ~15% of students who begin undergraduate Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or Technology (STEM) programs complete them. In USA ~30-35% of students who begin undergraduate STEM programs switch to non-STEM ones. But enrollment in undergraduate engineering programs is rising (as it tends to follows economic cycles that indicate uncertainty). Enrollment demographics -> also broadening (in USA). We need to afford better opportunities for all entering students to complete their undergraduate STEM degree programs. 10. Business Higher Education Forum 11. High School Survey of Student Engagement 12. State of Game Play in Education State-of-the-art Educational Games Moonbase Alpha Radix Endeavor (MMOG) Budget of $3 millionTotal Genius GameInitiatives Girls GAMES (MMORPG) Goal: Produce a commercial quality STEM game by 2017STEM Video Game Challenge SERC Experience Accelerator 13. Moonbase Alpha 14. State-of-the-Art (educational): Radix Endeavor 15. Total Genius Game 16. Jane McGonigal: World Without Oil 17. But does educational gaming work? Perhaps, but there are questions Educator questions Does the game augment other delivery methods? Will the game interfere with my lesson plan?Student questions Is game play directly applicable to the subject being learned? Is this just another way for my teacher to manipulate me? Is the game fun?Research questions How does narrative structure speak to effectiveness? Do MMOs have potential for measurable success? What is the role/value of the interface? 18. And when does educational gaming fail? When the challenge is not suitable to the audience When metrics of success are not relevant When the challenge is deemed to hard Essentially, when the aforementioned questions are not considered. 19. Project CONSTNT 20. Development of Calculus I game environment Current System Game narrative developed by student teams Original art and scoring Leveraging natural gestural interfaces Game designed to reinforce Calculus I concepts Derivatives Integrals Gestures functional for solving both small and middle level puzzles in game This summer completed one level of the game including: 3D environment Responses to gesture Narrative Structure Game aesthetics and music Quality assurance testing 21. Current Game Development 22. Strategy for Investigating the Effectiveness of Gesture-Based Gaming Environments 1.Compare use of gaming environments to traditional teaching on a specified problem-solving task, outside the classroom2.Compare use of gaming environments to traditional teaching approach in a single class session.3.Run comparison with a mixed control group over the course of a full semester.Input is very welcome. 23. Key Technologies Easy to use motion capture systems Advanced gesture technologies Haptics 3D environments Virtual holographic computing Glasses free 3D viewing environments Immersive Environments 24. Recap and Next Steps Game development is continuing this semester, led by a Computer Science senior design groupWe are in the process of developing related educational delivery systems Reviewing game environments for various educational and training content Technology continues to inform the development process 25. Acknowledgements Undergraduate summer research team Project Manager Michelle Little Programming Team Zach Klapwald, Jack Farzan, Natalie Barillaro, Tyler RomeoGraphics Team Frank DiCola, Julian ChavesMusic Team Andy Wiggins, Alex Thieke, Victor Ianarella, Michelle ZanoneColleagues in CREATe: Drs. Elizabeth Lennon, Art Ritter, Prof. Robert Harari 26. CREATe Opening: Youre Invited! 27. References Socrates image courtesy of http://oopsjohn.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/socratic-wisdom/ Oregon Trail image courtesy of http://www.mobygames.com/game/oregon-trail Apple II image courtesy of http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/apple2fpga/ TRS-80 image courtesy of http://www.trs-80.com/wordpress/trs-80-computer-line/model-ii/ Logo Turtle image courtesy of http://howimetyourmotherboard.com/?p=3 Assassins Creed image courtesy of http://arcanepower.com/game-reviews/672/creed-or-crud-the-assassins-creed-iii-review/ Business Higher Education image courtesy of http://www.bhef.com/ High School Survey on Student Engagement courtesy of Moonbase Alpha image courtesy of http://ceep.indiana.edu/hssse/index.html Radix Endeavor video courtesy of http://education.mit.edu/projects/radix-endeavor Total Genious Game image courtesy of http://www.usa.total.com/ World Without Oil image courtesy of http://www.designandenvironment.co.uk/2010/10/a-serious-game-%E2%80%93-worldwithout-oil/ 28. Question and Answer