Problem Purpose V 1

Several researchers have started exploring the possibility of games in education, but not just any type of educational games.Games that are considered Immersive, multi user role-playing games, have brought a new spin on learning within education that is still in the early phases of research. This research will explore how these types of games impact learning in the classroom. Using an experimental pre-post design with a control group, students will be exposed to a game-based curriculum and subsequently tested on content achievement. The control group will receive the typical, lecture, text based curriculum. The experimental group will be actively engaged in an immersive, multi-user game. A validated achievement test will be used to measure mastery of content.
Recently, Dr. Richard Eck wrote an article in the April issue of Educause (month, year), “We are ill-prepared to provide the needed guidance because so much of the past digital game based learning (DGBL) research, though good, has focused on efficacy (the message that games can be effective) rather than on explanation (why and how they are effective) and prescription (how to actually implement DGBL) “ (pg#). This is the exact intent for this research: to focus on, collecting evidence to support game use in curricula, and establish guidleines for how games can effectively be implemented within instruction.
The purpose of this experimental study will be to test the hypothesis that student achievement can be improved using a role-playing strategy game, Civilization IV, beyond the achievement level obtained from traditional lecture and text-based instructional strategies.. Two groups of eleventh graders at one Technology High School will be involved. The independent variable will be the exposure to the experimental condition of using the to the strategy role playing game Civilization IV, is a digitally based history game. The dependent variable will be achievement/mastery of history content. To control possible intervening variables, only one teacher will be involved in the study.

Primary Research Question:

1. What differences in achievement level exist between learning through games and learning through standard teaching practices with next generation learners?
Secondary Questions:
2. What similarities and differences exist between digital history games over time?
3.

Significance of the Study ….Conceptual Support

Gaming in education has been around for several decades, riding the proverbial wave of popularity with educators. In recent years, several middle schools and high schools are now using commercial games to support learning in their classroom. More teachers are finding that these large commercial games are the best educational games out there. Gee states that: “Good games are crafted in ways that encourage and facilitate active and critical learning and thinking (2003)”. Most educational games are not created to facilitate critical learning and thinking; essentially these games are a digital spin on the drill and kill, rote memorization of concepts. Gee goes on to state, “One can learn actively without much critical learning, but one cannot really learn much critically without a good deal of active learning in a semiotic domain (2003)”. For the most part, “edugames” do not provide active learning in a domain, while many commercial games immerse players in an active learning environment with rich context.
In 1980, Malone identified three important elements that have to be present in a game: fantasy, challenge and curiosity (p. 335). Most frequently, game players play to have fun, be challenged, be entertained and interact with others (if online).
A teacher’s ideal class has students who are intrinsically motivated to learn, yet the reality is an extrinsic motivator: grades. So where is the line drawn when assessing students in gaming? Can a grade be given to a student who is intrinsically motivated to play games? Does this take the motivation out of the player? Malone addressed a few of these questions by developing a set of criteria that needed to be present for game play to be effective in instruction:
1. The player can increase or decrease the level of challenges faced, in order to match personal skills with requirements for action.
2. Isolating the activity should be easy at the perceptual level, from other stimuli, external or internal, which might interfere with involvement in it.
3. Clear criteria for performance, a player should be able to evaluate how he/she is doing at anytime during the game.
4. Concrete feedback should be present to determine if criteria is being met through performance.
5. A broad range of challenges should be present in several qualitatively different ranges of challenge so the player may obtain increasingly complex information about different aspects of him/her. (Malone, p. 336)

Malone’s steps to effective instruction contain several components found in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG). The communities in these games are astounding. Sites, blogs, tutorials, books, magazines are all created to support players of that game. The astonishing thing about these artifacts is how much time and effort went into creating and maintaining these portals of information. The intrinsic motivation of games cannot be compared to any type of learning that occurs at school.
The designers of these multi-billion dollar games (MMORPG’s) are among the best designers of content learning. Being able to engage players into playing complex and intricately detailed games takes skill far beyond “edugames”. Masking the notion of learning in games is a task that the commercial game industry has perfected. Several strategy games on the market take at least 100 hours to fully understand how and why the game works. Granted, there are some students that do not have the desire and patience to “master their virtual domain”, but I think the goal of gaming is not to enlist every student, but reach out to those who possibly may never make a strong connection between learning and fun.
Prensky (2001, pages 118–119) states that computer games can be characterized by six key structural elements which, when combined together, strongly engage the player. These elements are:
1. Rules
2. Conflict/Competition/Challenge/Opposition
3. Goals and objectives
4. Interaction
5. Outcomes/ and feedback
6. Representation or story

“No compulsory learning can remain in the soul...ln teaching
children, train them by a kind of game, and you will be able to see more clearly the natural bent of each. " (Plato, The Republic, Book VII)

Next Generation Learners
For a student to sit hours in front of a given task, be attentive and engaged the entire time is the dream of an educator. Getting students to be engaged in a 45-minute lesson is almost impossible to do today. Students do not learn the same way as students 20 years ago; we are dealing with a different breed of learners. Today’s students – K through college – represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age. Today’s average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV) (Prensky, 2001). Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives. It is now clear that as a result of this ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume of their interaction with it, today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. These differences go far further and deeper than most educators suspect or realize. Our students today are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. (Prensky, 2001) Their world is completely saturated with a media rich society. So why is it so hard to sign on the education sector? Games and simulations are being used in medical research and training, government and military
Cultural historical
Another framework that will be looked at is the cultural historical analysis of strategic games over time. Wikipedia defines strategy games as, “games with the players' decision-making skills having a high significance in determining the outcome. Many games include this element to a greater or lesser degree, making demarcation difficult. It is therefore more accurate to describe a particular game as having a certain degree of strategic elements, as in being mainly based around strategic principles” (Author, 2006, pg#). These games require analytical skills, coolheaded tactics, as the player must balance the relation between resources and various elements in the game. In this dissertation, the history strategy games will be compared to the games of today that are used in the research process. Content in game will be evaluated for parallel curriculum, and assessed based on the next generation learners.

Methods Proposal V 1

Several researchers have started exploring the possibility of games in education, but not just educational games. Immersive, massive multi user role-playing games have brought a new spin on learning within education that is still in the early phases of research. This study is intended to explore the role and capacity (which games play in the classroom, through the implementation of a quasi-experimental design at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C.. A control group and an experimental group of students will be tested on the same material 3 times through the semester, but have the information presented in two different formats. One format will be in lecture format, with a text-based curriculum. The other delivery method will be game-based curriculum with facilitation from the teacher.
The content mastery will be measured to show the effect of game play on content knowledge and accuracy.
“The purpose of this mixed methods research study is to study how the use of an online networked MMORPG game (like Civ 4) can improve test scores of high school sophomores as well as increase engagement in the classroom.
This study is part of a five-study project (cite) intended to make a contribution to the educational experience by understanding the design opportunities in commercial multi-user virtual worlds (games and other applications) that make learning a natural process of developing expertise, supported by tools, artifacts, and people in a meaningful environment, in order to create more vital and engaging virtual learning environments for formal school learning.
As part of the overall project, this study will use as its aligning context a conceptual framework for inquiry that the six cooperating researchers will develop during the first six months of the 30 month project.
This study will focus on how a role playing game can be used to increase student achievement. The dependent variable will be student achievement in history….
Research Design
The design of this mixed-methods research is a quasi-experimental pre-post design. The qualitative aspect of the study will focus on understanding how games actually impact student learning as well as attitudes regarding this type of learning activity . The setting will be within two high school classrooms and will involve observing students in both a control and experimental group and testing for mastery of the history curriculum for the tenth grade unit . Students achievement and attitudes in the experimental group will be compared to those in a traditional classroom to assess differences in learning and attitudes.
Definitions
For the purpose of this study, the following definitions will be used:
• Student- tenth grade student at Public High School in the Disctrick of Columbia..
• Teacher- Certified by the involved District of Columbia Public School teacher at)
• DCPS Curriculum- Curriculum mandated by the district to be taught by the public school teacher.
• Student Achievement- student scores based on testing in the study related to curriculum content mastery.
Sources of Data and collection strategies
One of the most innovative schools incorporating gaming into curriculum is one high school located in….McKinley High School. McKinley is in the heart of Washington, D.C. only 12 blocks from the Capitol, sitting on the corner of T Street, three stories high, consuming 200,000 square feet. The school was recently re-opened with state of the art technology in every classroom. Several cross-platform labs, a motion-capture studio and even a game design program for high school students are on the roster at this school. Two groups of tenth graders with the same teacher will be tested. Instruction in one class will be delivered without games, the other with the use of Civilization IV. Students will take a pre-test before the semester begins, based on content objectives for the county curriculum guidelines. Students will then be tested at midterm, and at the end of the study to assess content mastery.
Data Collection Tools
The test to measure mastery of content Iwill be created based on the DCPS curriculum for the tenth grade history class and validated with other teachers familiar with the curriculum. The teacher involved with the study will be included in this validation process to ensure ….. used and evaluated in this will be
A pilot test of the test’s ability to measure learning will occur with individuals similar to those who will be in the study. The test will be administered three times, pre-, midterm, and posttest for students for evaluation of content mastery. The DCPS content objectives will be considered and correlated to the tests (See Appendix A).
Considerations for use of human subjects
As this study poses minimal risk to subjects it meets Federal Criteria for studies consider to be be exempt from full IRB review. Subjects will only be identified by category (teacher, student, etc.). No specific names or titles will be used.
Other considerations
Things such as validity and reliability of instrumentation, scoring, and achievement of research purpose are areas that I am still working on and will continue to develop up until the research is conducted.

Work in Progress

Can games in a tenth grade history classroom make an impact on knowledge acquisition?


Problem and Purpose
Several researchers have started exploring the possibility of games in education, but not just educational games. Immersive, massive multi user role-playing games have brought a new spin on learning within education that is still in the early phases of research. I want to explore the role and capacity in which games play in the classroom. I will be running a quasi-experimental design at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C.. A control group and an experimental group of students will be tested on the same material 3 times through the semester, but have the information presented in two different formats. One format being lecture, text based curriculum. The other delivery method will be game-based curriculum with facilitation from the teacher.
The content mastery will be measured to show if game play actually increases, content knowledge and accuracy.
The purpose of this quasi-experimental study will be to test the theory of Role Playing Games in curriculum within the classroom from lecture and text-based curriculum, for the eleventh graders at McKinley Technology High School. The independent variables will be defined as the role playing game used. The dependent variable will be defined as the teacher in the classes, and the students, and the control and intervening variables will be the curriculum will be statistically controlled in the study.
Research Design
The design of this research is a qualitative analysis and quasi-experimental design. The interpretive purpose is to understand how games impact learning in a high school classroom through observation and pre-mid-and post testing. The students will then be measured on their mastery of the history curriculum for the tenth grade unit. These scores will be compared to each other to look if there are differences between classrooms that incorporate games to those that do not.
Definitions
For the purpose of this study, the following definitions will be used:
∑ Student- tenth grade student at McKinley High School participating in the study.
∑ Teacher- Certified District of Columbia Public School teacher at McKinley participating in the study (DCPS)
∑ DCPS Curriculum- Curriculum mandated by the district to be taught by the public school teacher.
∑ Student Achievement- student scores based on testing in the study related to curriculum content mastery.
Sources of Data and collection strategies
One of the most innovative schools incorporating gaming into curriculum is McKinley High School. McKinley is in the heart of Washington, D.C. only 12 blocks from the Capitol, sitting on the corner of T Street, three stories high, consuming 200,000 square feet. The school was recently re-opened with state of the art technology in every classroom. Several cross-platform labs, a motion-capture studio and even a game design program for high school students are on the roster at this school. 2 groups of tenth graders will be tested in this experiment that have the same teacher. One class will be delivered instruction without games, one with the use of Civilization IV. Students will take a pre-test before the semester begins, based on content objectives for the county curriculum guidelines. Students will then be tested at midterm, and at the end of the study for content mastery.
Data Collection Tools
I will be creating these tools based on the DCPS curriculum for the tenth grade history class. Alongside the teacher, I will make sure an accurate depiction of content mastery is evaluated in this study. We will be creating a pre-test, midterm test, and posttest for students to take. The DCPS content objectives will be considered and correlated to the tests (See Appendix A).
Considerations for use of human subjects
I believe this study will be exempt from the IRB review, but I will take the necessary steps with the school to expedite the process there as well. Subjects will only be identified by category (teacher, student, etc.). No specific names or titles will be used.
Other considerations
Things such as validity and reliability of instrumentation, scoring, and achievement of research purpose are areas that I am still working on and will continue to develop up until the research is conducted.

Meeting.with.Kay

NOTES FROM CONVERSATION WITH KAY, 6/23/06

James, Vicki, and Holly
1. What’s common about our research:
a. Linda is our chair
b. we are exploring virtual worlds
c. these are design studies, examining the design of these worlds

4. Kay’s suggestions for Holly
a. Holly is particularly interested in experimenting with the effects on history learning of a video game, Civilization IV.
b. While she has considered using same teacher, one class with the intervention, and the other a control group, because the teacher is already an enthusiastic user of CivIV, Kay suggested that that might be a confounding variable. An alternative is to find a strong teacher who doesn’t have such experience. With the elements of an experimental design being randomization, control, and manipulation, and the reality that Holly can’t ensure the first two, a better approach might be to have the students be their own control group, using pre- and post- tests.
c. This way, she can focus on effect on comprehension of the video game and let go of other issues.
d. Design is quasi-experimental, with hypotheses about the effect of the video game on the learning, starting with a pre-test, a mid-experiment test, and a final test.
e. Review of design of previous history games will be included
f. Product will be report on the results of the intervention, and discussion of design elements



THINKING ABOUT NOW:
g. NOTE: after discussion between VS and HL, the issue of her interest in next generation learners and next generation games, and how the research as described above isn’t really related and doesn’t address it at all, really (except as possibly the significance or importance of the study). VS & HL discussed the possibility ofy a mixed methods approach? For example, first phase in Spring 2007 is to do design review and look at research on intervention results of representative history games from 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, and the relative technology literacy of student populations during those same periods (?). Make hypotheses based on this research, and test them in the experimental mode in the fall.

Rubbish

After chatting with profs the past few weeks.. I am thinking about where to go with the dissertation process.. here is what is in my head so far.. pardon the mess:

Qualitative analysis
quasi- experimental design
relate my lit review to a look at history games over time
this review of games will then show the design of the games makes learning occur

students are the control
3 hypothesis: one covering the pretest to post test (whole semester),
1 from pretest to midterm, 1 from midterm to final
am going to run computer mediated instruction in an 11th grade classroom using Civ IV to support the notion that games support and enable learning

Links for Gaming

some relevent, some not.. just a place to store them..


http://www.charthouse.com/charthouse/liveLearn_schoolFish.asp?

http://www.itofisher.com/sfisher/

http://www-cntv.usc.edu/academic_programs/interactive_media/academic-interactive-professors.php

http://www.soup.dk/

http://www.glsconference.org/faq.htm

http://www.e3expo.com/

http://www.educationarcade.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=67&page=1

http://www.ncrg.org/events/CLE.cfm

http://www.stcsig.org/usability/topics/articles/ucd%20_web_devel.html

http://edtechoutreach.umd.edu/mindtools.html
http://www.academiccolab.org/initiatives/gapps.html

http://edugames.blogspot.com/

http://learningarcade.org/

http://www.digra.org/

http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/start/index.html

http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php

http://www.argn.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_Reality_Game

https://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php

http://www.onrpg.com/

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/civilization-iv/662218p1.html

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/17

http://www.ige.com/

http://www.digra.org/

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/games/ageofmythology/norse_home.asp

http://www.making-history.com/

http://digg.com/

http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/higinbotham.asp

http://www.onrpg.com/

http://www.multiverse.net/

http://www.trinity.edu/adelwich/mmo/students.html

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp


http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova

http://www.gamestudies.org/

http://thottbot.com/

http://www.gatlineducation.com/videogamedesign.htm

Possible Beta?

I am thinking of maybe Beta'ing or rolling out Muzzy Lane software for dissertation.

http://www.muzzylane.com/index.php

I need to contact the software company and see if I could use them for my research.. possible concern: would I be "selling" their software instead of validating the research..?

more clarification.. or fog

My dissertation will be looking at the relationship between increased engagement and gaming within
curriculum, vs. the traditional classroom and level of engagement (possibly with different games Civ 4, etc.). I want to apply the previous research from the Wisconsin cats and other researchers in the field of simulations and learning.

Possible research questions:
1. What causes engagement in the classroom with next generation learners?
2. What factors lead to engaging next generation learners?
3. What influences learners engagement with content and curriculum?
4. What characteristics lead to engagement within the classroom with next generation of learners?
5. What is the relationship between engagement of games and learning?
6. How effective is integration of games in the classroom with the next generation learners?
7. What differences exist between learning through games and learning through standard teaching practices?

Ideas for research

Looking at engagement: how to measure it?!

Control group: survey students to determine if they have a "loss of time": ask how long lecture was
Study: survey students to determine if they have a "loss of time": ask how long they played game
Survey and control: Pre and Post test .. Given in same format


Control group/sample group:
100 HS students (equal gender in each) in lecture based class/ 100 students in game-based class

Quantative Analysis:
students are measured based on surveys for loss of time (engagement), Pre and post test (engagement)

Qualitative analyze:
control: observation of students during lecture
study: observation of students During game play

both: same questions asked in each group and run analysis

Ideas

My purpose of the case study is to understand how gaming impacts engagement in the classroom with next generation learners.


(Need to work on full statement and research questions)

Proposed Dissertation

The purpose of this blog is to work through my dissertation research and post relevant links and information for use in the paper.