Via: Center for Game Science
The Center for Game Science (CGS) focuses on
solving hard problems facing humanity today in a game based environment (Please find also Solving Real-World Problems w/Games).
Makers of
free online Serious Games for Learning and Expert Performance that include
fraction Games such as Refraction and Creature Capture, the Center for Game
Science also offers its STEM Serious Games for scientific discovery and
discovery of optimal learning pathways; for cognitive skill training and
creativity; and for exploration of collective over individual intelligence.
Their latest
Serious Game is Treefrog Treasure, a platformer game that allows players to explore different worlds
as a frog and learn fractions and numberline concepts. When certain obstacles
are reached, a player must properly identify a target symbol, whole number, or
fraction on a numberline to collect gems and complete the level. Hints
are provided to help the player reach the correct answer when mistakes are
made.
The game was designed to teach players how to place fractions on a
numberline
The team went through a number of prototypes
that were able to address their math goals. One of their main teaching goals
was to provide scaffolding to aid players that are struggling by giving them
more and more help if they are unable to solve a given numberline problem. On a
simple numberline with two endpoints and a fractional target, the player has
the opportunity to collect 5 gems by jumping into the correct point on the
first try. If the player misses their first try, the line is divided into the
appropriate denominator and they are able to collect 3 gems. If they continue
to miss, additional labels are provided and eventually the target fraction is
displayed on the line to show the answer. This design lets any player complete
a level without requiring math reasoning, but quickly players realize that the
most effective way to beat the game is to use their knowledge of fractions to
get the answer right on the first try.
They’re hoping this approach will make the game accessible for players who have never seen a numberline before, and they've seen positive results when playtesting with kids as young as kindergarten-age.
A Web Interface Where Teachers Can See Detailed
Information About The Progress Of Their Students In The Game
CGS research is focused around creating the best learning experience for students and providing the best support for teachers. Their current project looks at how they can make Treefrog Treasure dynamically adapt the progression of numberline concepts based on each student’s performance in the game. Here, the game looks at how the student did on past levels, and selects the next challenge so that it will maximize both learning and engagement. The goal is to dynamically create a personalized progression for every student.
Another current project involves the
development of a support tool for teachers called the Teacher Portal.
This tool provides a web interface where teachers can see detailed information
about the progress of their students in the game. If a teacher assigns a set of
levels in Treefrog Treasure to his/her class, he/she can immediately
assess performance across a variety of concepts through this Teacher Portal.
They are working with teachers to refine our design and make this an effective
tool to support the use of Serious Games in the classroom.
About the Center for Game Science
The Center for Game Science focuses on solving
hard problems facing humanity today in a game based environment. Most of these problems are thus far unsolvable
by either people alone or by computer-only approaches. The Center for Science
pursues solutions with a computational and creative symbiosis of humans and
computers. For this symbiotic problem solving engine to work, two things need
to co-evolve:
. People need to be brought
to a high level of expertise specific to each problem,
. Computer tools need to
adapt to best complement human problem solving and creative abilities.
The Center
for Game Science believes that these two objectives can most naturally be
framed within the game environment which promotes extended involvement by
people and that allows for game tools to adapt based on analysis of data from
human interaction.
For this
reason they are currently developing data-based theories of human engagement,
expertise acquisition and learning, as well as automated generation of engaging
game content that self-adapts to each human player.
Their initial
domain focus is on scientific discovery games, games that discover optimal
learning pathways for STEM education, cognitive skill training games, games
that promote human creativity, games that explore collective over individual intelligence
and many more that we will be announcing shortly.
The Center
for Game Science is supported by the University Of Washington Department Of
Computer Science and Engineering, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DARPA,
Office of Naval Research (ONR), National Science Foundation (NSF), Howard
Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Microsoft, and Adobe.