Purpose: This project team will develop and test Zaption, a mobile and desktop platform designed to support educators in effectively and efficiently utilizing video (e.g., from YouTube, Vimeo, or their own desktop) as an interactive teaching and learning object. Personalized learning devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets) populated with video content provide opportunities for students to access educationally-meaningful content anywhere and anytime. Yet, video has yet to realize its potential as a learning tool in or out of the classroom. One reason for this is that watching video can be a passive experience for students, whereas learning requires active engagement. A second reason is that even if students are actively engaged while watching a video, there is no easy way to elicit student responses to a video. And finally, there is no easy way to feed student responses to teachers as formative assessment data to guide subsequent instruction.
Project Activities: During Phase I, (completed in 2014), the team expanded a pre-existing prototype by building a mobile app to enable anytime use and increase its functionality for teachers. At the end of Phase I, pilot research with 150 students in 7 classrooms demonstrated that the prototype operated as intended, teachers were able to integrate the videos within instructional practice, and students found the mobile app helpful and engaging. In Phase II, the team will add additional components to the prototype and will develop content-specific modules for use in high school physics classes. After development is complete, the research team will conduct a larger pilot study to assess the feasibility and usability, fidelity of implementation, and the promise of the Zaption for supporting student's physics learning. The study will include 32 Grade 10 physics classrooms, half of whom will be randomly assigned to use Zaption and half of whom will follow business as usual procedures. Analyses will compare pre-and-post scores of student's physics learning.
Product: Zaption will be a mobile and web-based platform to support the use of any video (e.g., from YouTube, Vimeo, or their own desktop) as a teaching and learning tool. Zaption will include an authoring engine where users can find and select video clips and easily insert interactive elements such as questions, discussions, and annotations into the videos. Users will then publish videos directly on Zaption's website, or on any learning management system or classroom website. Students will be able to view videos as homework or in class, respond individually to the questions and prompts, and get feedback on their responses. Teachers will use Zaption Analytics to receive immediate and actionable data showing whether students actually watched and engaged with a video, and how students responded to the questions and prompts.
Purpose: This project will develop and test Eco, an online multiplayer virtual environment and game designed to enhance middle school students' knowledge of ecology and environmental literacy. This is important because according to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, students in the United States ranked 17th in science among the world's most developed countries, and over a third of eighth-graders scored below basic level, the lowest performance level. The Framework for 21st Century Skills presents the need for education materials that engage students and use technology effectively, meet rigorous content and skill standards, foster interdisciplinary work, and promote collaborative problem solving.
Project Activities: During Phase I (completed in 2014), the team developed a prototype of Eco consisting of a system architecture that enabled user-controlled avatars to complete basic tasks. At the end of Phase I, a pilot study with 60 students from five classrooms demonstrated that the prototype functioned as intended, that students found the game to be engaging, and that students were able to collaborate with classmates during gameplay. In Phase II the developers will strengthen functionality, add content, and build a teacher dashboard to track student data and house implementation resources. After development is complete, the team will conduct a pilot study to assess the feasibility and usability, fidelity of implementation, and the promise of the game for promoting students' ecosystem learning and environmental literacy. The researchers will collect data from 150 students in 10 classrooms. Half of the classrooms will be randomly assigned to use Eco to supplement standard classroom instruction while the other half will continue with normal practice. Analyses will compare pre-and-post scores of student's ecology knowledge and environmental literacy.
Product: Eco will be a multi-player game to teach standards in ecology and prepare middle schools students to be environmentally literate citizens. To play the game, students will enter a shared online world featuring a simulated ecosystem of plants and animals. Students will co-create a civilization by measuring, modeling, and analyzing the underlying ecosystem. Students will advocate for proposed plans to classmates and make decisions as a group. Cooperation and science-based decision making activities will occur, in order to prevent the destruction of the environment. The game will include teacher resources to support the alignment of game play to learning goals, and implementation.
Purpose: This project will develop and test Kiko's Thinking Time, a series of game apps designed to strengthen children's cognitive skills related to executive functioning and reasoning. A principle objective of preschool is to prepare children for later success in school. Most programs focus on activities to support children's social and emotional development, and to strengthen pre-reading and mathematics competencies. Fewer programs explicitly focus on fostering children's executive function and reasoning skills—even though research in the cognitive sciences demonstrates these skills also provide a foundation for school-readiness.
Project Activities: During Phase I (completed in 2014), the team developed six prototype games and a teacher portal to track student progress. At the end of Phase I, results from a pilot study with 55 kindergarten students and 5 teachers demonstrated that the games operated as intended. Results indicated that students were engaged based on duration of game play, and that teachers were able to review game data for each child. In Phase II, the team will develop 15 more games and will further refine and enhance the functionality of the teacher portal. After development is complete, a pilot study will assess the feasibility and usability, fidelity of implementation, and the promise of the games for promoting students' executive functioning and reasoning. The researchers will collect data from 200 students in 10 preschool classrooms over 2 months. Half of the students in each class will be randomly assigned to use Kiko's Thinking Time while the other half will play an art-focused gaming app. Analyses will compare pre-and-post scores on measures of student's executive functioning and reasoning.
Product: Kiko's Thinking Time will be an app with 25 games, each based on tasks shown to have cognitive benefits in lab research. Each game will be designed to isolate and train skills related to executive functioning, such as: working memory, reasoning, inhibition, selective attention, cognitive flexibility, and spatial skills. Game play will be self-guided and adaptive, as the software will adjust in difficulty based on student responses. The app will work on tablets, smartphones, as well desktops. In addition, a companion website will allow teachers to track student performance and to obtain educational material around executive function and cognitive development.
Purpose: This project will develop and test Happy Atoms, a physical modeling set and an interactive iPad app for use in high school chemistry classrooms. Happy Atoms is designed to facilitate student learning of atomic modeling, a difficult topic for chemistry high school students to master. Standard instructional practice in this area typically includes teachers using slides, static ball and stick models, or computer-simulation software to present diagrams on a whiteboard. However, these methods do not adequately depict atomic interactions effectively, thus obscuring complex knowledge and understanding of their formulas and characteristics.
Project Activities: During Phase I (completed in 2014), the team developed a prototype of a physical modeling set including a computerized ball and stick molecular models representing the first 17 elements on the periodic table and an iPad app that identifies and generates information about atoms. A pilot study at the end of Phase I tested the prototype with 187 high school students in 12 chemistry classes. Researchers found that the prototype functioned as intended. Results showed that 88% of students enjoyed using the prototype, and that 79% indicated that it helped learning. In Phase II, the team will develop additional models and will strengthen functionality for effective integration into instructional practice. After development is complete, a larger pilot study will assess the usability and feasibility, fidelity of implementation, and promise of Happy Atoms to improve learning. The study will include 30 grade 11 chemistry classrooms, with half randomly assigned to use Happy Atoms and half who will continue with business as usual procedures. Analyses will compare pre-and-post scores of student's chemistry learning, including atomic modeling.
Product: Happy Atoms will include a set of physical models paired with an iPad app to cover high school chemistry topics in atomic modeling. The modeling set will include individual plastic balls representing the elements of the periodic table. Students will use an iPad app to take a picture of models they create. Using computer-generated algorithms, the app will then identify the model and generate information about its physical and chemical properties and uses. The app will also inform students if a model that is created does not exist. Happy Atoms will replace or supplement lesson plans to enhance chemistry teaching. The app will include teacher resources suggesting how to incorporate games and activities to reinforce lesson plans and learning.
The project team is developing and testing a prototype of Thinkzone, a blended learning portal intended for Kindergarten through Grade 8 teachers to host existing education learning games across core subject areas. The prototype will host games, and include a learning system to train educators to integrate games to replace or supplement instructional practice. In the Phase I pilot study will include 10 teachers and 200 students. The researchers will examine if the prototype functions as planned, if teachers are able to implement it with small groups of students, and whether students are engaged across the various games.
This project team is developing and testing a prototype of the Teachley Analytics Library, a platform intended to host third party-developed mathematics game apps for students in kindergarten through Grade 8. The prototype will include a dashboard to host games and generate formative assessment data to inform teacher instruction. In the Phase I pilot study, the team will examine whether the prototype functions as planned with 40 Grade 1 and 2 math teachers. The study will test if teachers are able to implement games within the classroom and utilize data to inform practice, and whether students are engaged by gameplay.
This project team will develop and test a prototype of LifeSim, intended to be a financial literacy game app for high school students to strengthen mathematical skills and practical life knowledge. In the game, high school students will manage hypothetical investment funds and be challenged to understand compounded interest and debt. The app will include materials for math teachers to integrate the game within instructional practice. At the end of Phase I in a pilot study with 50 students, the researchers will examine whether the prototype functions as planned and if students are engaged during gameplay.
The project team is developing and testing a prototype of a computer science game-based intervention intended for Grade 1 students. The prototype will include physical robots that will be designed and controlled on a game board by students through a blue-tooth enabled smartphone app. The product will include teacher resources and suggestions to facilitate classroom integration. In the Phase I pilot research with 5 classrooms and 150 students, the researchers will examine whether the prototype functions as planned, if teachers are able to implement it with small groups of students, and whether
In prior research and development, the team developed the Mathalicious intervention for middle and high school students to improve mathematical thinking. Each Mathalicious lesson revolves around applying a real world example to learn math (e.g., Is college worth the cost). In this project, the team will develop and test a prototype of an adaptive platform through which students will need to demonstrate mastery prior to being able to advance to more complicated procedural, conceptual, and analytical levels. In the Phase I pilot research with three Grade 8 classrooms, the team will examine whether the prototype functions as planned, if teachers are able to implement it with students, and whether students are engaged.
In prior research and development, the team developed WuzzitTrouble, an iPhone and iPad gaming app where players solve problems using number sense mathematical strategies. This project will develop and test a prototype of an adaptive engine for this game, intended to tailor gameplay to the skill levels of individual students and to provide support (or scaffold learning) for students with weaker skills. The Phase I pilot will involve six Grade 6 classrooms and 100 students. The study will examine whether the prototype functions as planned, and if students of different skill levels are engaged and able to play the game with the support of the prototype’s adaptive engine.
It’s important to communicate the excitement and value of NSF-funded research. This tool (formatted as a Prezi presentation) helps you do that with assistance from NSF public affairs experts, exploring options for communicating your research and broader impacts.
On the first day of the Science and Society course at the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Cooperstown, New York, I present the students with an incandescent lightbulb, with clear glass so one can easily see the filament inside. I ask the students how it works and they are able to tell me that the electricity comes in there, runs through the filament here, heats up, and produces light. Then I take out my iPhone and slide it across the table and ask, “How does this work?” Blank stares abound.