Gaming/Virtual Environments

Wake: Tales from the Aqualab

In this free life sciences learning game, middle school students can play as a young scientist faced with scientific challenges across multiple oceanic ecosystems. Wake: Tales from the Aqualab addresses the NGSS practices of experimentation, modeling, and argumentation in the context of food webs, environmental stressors, and ecological restoration. Wake is compatible with Chromebook, PC or Mac with Internet access and available in English and Spanish.

Author/Presenter

Ryan Baker

David Gagnon

Shari Metcalf

Year
2023
Short Description

In this free life sciences learning game, middle school students can play as a young scientist faced with scientific challenges across multiple oceanic ecosystems. Wake: Tales from the Aqualab addresses the NGSS practices of experimentation, modeling, and argumentation in the context of food webs, environmental stressors, and ecological restoration. Wake is compatible with Chromebook, PC or Mac with Internet access and available in English and Spanish.

Wake: Tales from the Aqualab

In this free life sciences learning game, middle school students can play as a young scientist faced with scientific challenges across multiple oceanic ecosystems. Wake: Tales from the Aqualab addresses the NGSS practices of experimentation, modeling, and argumentation in the context of food webs, environmental stressors, and ecological restoration. Wake is compatible with Chromebook, PC or Mac with Internet access and available in English and Spanish.

Author/Presenter

Ryan Baker

David Gagnon

Shari Metcalf

Year
2023
Short Description

In this free life sciences learning game, middle school students can play as a young scientist faced with scientific challenges across multiple oceanic ecosystems. Wake: Tales from the Aqualab addresses the NGSS practices of experimentation, modeling, and argumentation in the context of food webs, environmental stressors, and ecological restoration. Wake is compatible with Chromebook, PC or Mac with Internet access and available in English and Spanish.

Wake: Tales from the Aqualab

In this free life sciences learning game, middle school students can play as a young scientist faced with scientific challenges across multiple oceanic ecosystems. Wake: Tales from the Aqualab addresses the NGSS practices of experimentation, modeling, and argumentation in the context of food webs, environmental stressors, and ecological restoration. Wake is compatible with Chromebook, PC or Mac with Internet access and available in English and Spanish.

Author/Presenter

Ryan Baker

David Gagnon

Shari Metcalf

Year
2023
Short Description

In this free life sciences learning game, middle school students can play as a young scientist faced with scientific challenges across multiple oceanic ecosystems. Wake: Tales from the Aqualab addresses the NGSS practices of experimentation, modeling, and argumentation in the context of food webs, environmental stressors, and ecological restoration. Wake is compatible with Chromebook, PC or Mac with Internet access and available in English and Spanish.

A Pilot Study on Teacher-Facing Real-Time Classroom Game Dashboards

Educational games are an increasingly popular teaching tool in modern classrooms. However, the development of complementary tools for teachers facilitating classroom gameplay is lacking. We present the results of a participatory design process for a teacher-facing, real-time game data dashboard. This two-phase process included a workshop to elicit teachers' requirements for such a tool, and a pilot study of our dashboard prototype.

Author/Presenter

Luke Swanson

David Gagnon

Jennifer Scianna

Year
2022
Short Description

Educational games are an increasingly popular teaching tool in modern classrooms. However, the development of complementary tools for teachers facilitating classroom gameplay is lacking. We present the results of a participatory design process for a teacher-facing, real-time game data dashboard.

A Pilot Study on Teacher-Facing Real-Time Classroom Game Dashboards

Educational games are an increasingly popular teaching tool in modern classrooms. However, the development of complementary tools for teachers facilitating classroom gameplay is lacking. We present the results of a participatory design process for a teacher-facing, real-time game data dashboard. This two-phase process included a workshop to elicit teachers' requirements for such a tool, and a pilot study of our dashboard prototype.

Author/Presenter

Luke Swanson

David Gagnon

Jennifer Scianna

Year
2022
Short Description

Educational games are an increasingly popular teaching tool in modern classrooms. However, the development of complementary tools for teachers facilitating classroom gameplay is lacking. We present the results of a participatory design process for a teacher-facing, real-time game data dashboard.

A Pilot Study on Teacher-Facing Real-Time Classroom Game Dashboards

Educational games are an increasingly popular teaching tool in modern classrooms. However, the development of complementary tools for teachers facilitating classroom gameplay is lacking. We present the results of a participatory design process for a teacher-facing, real-time game data dashboard. This two-phase process included a workshop to elicit teachers' requirements for such a tool, and a pilot study of our dashboard prototype.

Author/Presenter

Luke Swanson

David Gagnon

Jennifer Scianna

Year
2022
Short Description

Educational games are an increasingly popular teaching tool in modern classrooms. However, the development of complementary tools for teachers facilitating classroom gameplay is lacking. We present the results of a participatory design process for a teacher-facing, real-time game data dashboard.

Exploring Players' Experience of Humor and Snark in a Grade 3-6 History Practices Game

In this paper we use an existing history learning game with an active audience as a research platform for exploring how humor and "snarkiness" in the dialog script affect students' progression and attitudes about the game. We conducted a 2x2 randomized experiment with 11,804 anonymous 3rd-6th grade students. Using one-way ANOVA and Kruskall-Wallis tests, we find that changes to the script produced measurable results in the self-reported perceived humor of the game and the likeability of the player character.

Author/Presenter

David J. Gagnon

Ryan S. Baker

Sarah Gagnon

Luke Swanson

Nick Spevacek

Juliana Andres

Erik Harpstead

Jennifer Scianna

Stefan Slater

Maria O.C.Z. San Pedro

Year
2022
Short Description

In this paper we use an existing history learning game with an active audience as a research platform for exploring how humor and "snarkiness" in the dialog script affect students' progression and attitudes about the game.

Exploring Players' Experience of Humor and Snark in a Grade 3-6 History Practices Game

In this paper we use an existing history learning game with an active audience as a research platform for exploring how humor and "snarkiness" in the dialog script affect students' progression and attitudes about the game. We conducted a 2x2 randomized experiment with 11,804 anonymous 3rd-6th grade students. Using one-way ANOVA and Kruskall-Wallis tests, we find that changes to the script produced measurable results in the self-reported perceived humor of the game and the likeability of the player character.

Author/Presenter

David J. Gagnon

Ryan S. Baker

Sarah Gagnon

Luke Swanson

Nick Spevacek

Juliana Andres

Erik Harpstead

Jennifer Scianna

Stefan Slater

Maria O.C.Z. San Pedro

Year
2022
Short Description

In this paper we use an existing history learning game with an active audience as a research platform for exploring how humor and "snarkiness" in the dialog script affect students' progression and attitudes about the game.

Exploring Players' Experience of Humor and Snark in a Grade 3-6 History Practices Game

In this paper we use an existing history learning game with an active audience as a research platform for exploring how humor and "snarkiness" in the dialog script affect students' progression and attitudes about the game. We conducted a 2x2 randomized experiment with 11,804 anonymous 3rd-6th grade students. Using one-way ANOVA and Kruskall-Wallis tests, we find that changes to the script produced measurable results in the self-reported perceived humor of the game and the likeability of the player character.

Author/Presenter

David J. Gagnon

Ryan S. Baker

Sarah Gagnon

Luke Swanson

Nick Spevacek

Juliana Andres

Erik Harpstead

Jennifer Scianna

Stefan Slater

Maria O.C.Z. San Pedro

Year
2022
Short Description

In this paper we use an existing history learning game with an active audience as a research platform for exploring how humor and "snarkiness" in the dialog script affect students' progression and attitudes about the game.