Science Games: Teach The Unimaginable
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What are the best ways to teach abstract science concepts? How do we evaluate whether students learn? How can we design better teaching tools? What kinds of data do we need? A presentation fo faculty at Harrisburg University by Melanie Stegman, Ph.D.
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Science Games: Teach The Unimaginable
- 1. @MelanieAnnS National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Video Games: Teach the Unimaginable Melanie A. Stegman, Ph.D. Lead Developer, Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technology Harrisburg University
- 2. The Ebola Virus A very scary sausage?
- 3. http://www.pdb.org/pdb/101 Art by David Goodsell Ebola Virus A tiny infection machine With replaceable parts
- 4. Image from David Goodsell The Machinery of Life When the correct details are presented in an effective manner Intuitive Understanding Is Possible
- 5. Jerome Bruner The Process of Education Complex concepts can be learned by children as games, and teachers can use the game years later to explain formal ideas in science. Grammar is his best example. Five year olds do not know what a verb is, but they still use them correctly. This means that 10 year olds are prepared to learn the concept of verb. I argue that 10 year olds can understand random movement and stochastic interactions by playing games. Then 15 year olds are prepared to understand molecular behaviors.
- 6. Intuitive Formal Epistemological Deep understanding of science requires time to develop ……. Grade school …….……….. Middle School ……..…. High School ……..
- 8. CBE: Life Science Education. 7:227. 2008. Misconceptions are difficult to change
- 9. Portraying Molecular Randomness in Educational Videos
- 10. Portraying Molecular Motion Accurately in Educational Videos 1) protein conformation, 2) molecular motion, and 3) molecular crowding. Each test included questions to measure both students’ surface-level understanding and their deep-level understanding.
- 11. Immune Attack. Level 1. Transmigration of Monocyte Monocyte Your Nanobot MolecularJig.com watch trailer, download free game (.EXE file)
- 12. Immune Attack teaches students cell biology Three Day Evaluation Protocol 7th -12 grade teachers register on our website. Students are randomly assigned to the test group or the control group. Week One Students play Immune Attack OR the control game for 40 minutes. Week Two Students play Immune Attack OR the control game for 40 minutes. The next day, students take online exam.
- 13. Immune Attack players score significantly better than their classmates on our test of terms and concepts. 0 5 10 15 20 25 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718192021222324252627 Frequencies of Scores on Test of Terms and Concepts IA N = 180 Control N = 160 Score:Questionscorrectoutof27 Number of student with this score Control = 8 average correct Immune Attack students = 12 average correct
- 14. Topics Addressed in the test of Terms and Concepts • One Protein one job/one disease • Transmigration Progress • Tracking Process • Differences among WBC are due to proteins (not DNA). Questions and Data available at: Royal Society of Chemistry, Faraday Discussions Stegman, 2014. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2014/fd/c4fd00014e
- 15. Something that will damage your ship. An amino acid A protein that stops Monocytes. A wiggly thing that is the wrong target. A lipid A protein that makes Monocytes exit the blood vessel. An object you need to avoid. A complex carbohydrate A protein that does not interact with Monocytes. A wiggly thing you need to shoot to win. A protein A protein that causes the Monocyte to slow down. 75% 50% 51% 75% 52% 54% 74% 49% 50% What is the arrow pointing to? All Girls Boys Players know the wiggly thing is a protein.
- 16. Immune Attack players remember best the objects they needed to use/avoid/find. All Girls Boys What kind of cell is this? What color were the Monocytes in Immune Attack? What color were the Pseudomonas bacteria? What color are were the Neutrophils? Amoeba Green Blue Yellow Bacteria cell Yellow Yellow Blue A skin cell Red Red Red White Blood Cell Blue Green Green 43% 63% 40% 19% 48% 64% 45% 24% 38% 64% 35% 15%
- 17. Non-game playing students scored equally well on test of knowledge Students are asked how many hours per week they play video games. Their choices are 0, 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35, 36-40 All 0 hours/week 1 to 5 hours/week 6+ hours/week Immune Attack Control Control 0 5 10 15 All Girls Boys Score:Questionscorrectoutof27
- 18. Lack of success in Immune Attack does not inhibit learning… But success helps. Immune Attack players grouped by the level of Immune Attack they reached 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Immune Attack Level 1 Levels 2 and 3 Level 4 Level 5 Levels 6 and 7 Control Score:Questionscorrectoutof27
- 19. Lack of success in Immune Attack does not inhibit learning… But feeling successful helps. Students we asked to rate their agreement with this statement: “Immune Attack was easy to play.” 1 = I agree completely and 5 = I disagree completely 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 All IA 1 2 3 4 5 All Ctrl Response to Easy to Play? Score:Questionscorrectoutof27
- 20. Something that will damage your ship. An amino acid A protein that stops Monocytes. A wiggly thing that is the wrong target. A lipid A protein that makes Monocytes exit the blood vessel. An object you need to avoid. A complex carbohydrate A protein that does not interact with Monocytes. A wiggly thing you need to shoot to win. A protein A protein that causes the Monocyte to slow down. 75% 50% 51% 75% 52% 54% 74% 49% 50% What is the arrow pointing to? All Girls Boys Students remember objects and their role in the game.
- 21. Immune Attack players remember best the objects they needed to use/avoid/find. All Girls Boys What kind of cell is this? What color were the Monocytes in Immune Attack? What color were the Pseudomonas bacteria? What color are were the Neutrophils? Amoeba Green Blue Yellow Bacteria cell Yellow Yellow Blue A skin cell Red Red Red White Blood Cell Blue Green Green 43% 63% 40% 19% 48% 64% 45% 24% 38% 64% 35% 15%
- 22. Challenges in Making a Game from a Molecular Simulation. • Video Games, like Immune Attack, use tricks to hold our interest: *learning by doing *learning from mistakes *complexity of the material must be sufficient to draw players back to replay Will these seemingly negative aspect of gaming drive science game players away from science?? (No!) • Making a complete story from what is known is a unique challenge. • Accomplishing learning objectives while avoiding misconceptions and still meeting development deadlines.
- 23. How to test for Confidence? I would be able to understand this diagram if I read it and think about it. 1. I disagree definitely 2. I disagree somewhat 3. I am neutral 4. I agree somewhat 5. I agree definitely Nature Reviews Immunology, 2007. 7:678. Students were shown this diagram and were asked whether they agreed with the statement below.
- 24. Immune Attack players are more confident than their classmates The complex diagram looks as understandable as the simpler diagram to IA players. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 1 2 3 4 5 Transmigration 1 2 3 4 5 Yellow Macrophages Total Ctrl n = 161 Total IA n = 180 Nature Reviews Immunology Janeway Immunobiology 7th Ed.
- 25. Immune Attack players gain confidence with related images, even real data images. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 1 2 3 4 5 DATA All IA Players n = 180 All CTRL Players n = 161 Percentoftotalstudents Disagree -------------- Agree William Muller, Ph.D. William A. Muller, MD, PhD
- 26. Conclusions Immune Attack is accurate science and is fun to play. teaches vocabulary and concepts. imparts confidence and familiarity with cells and proteins Video games can be very effective learning tools, when they are co- designed by experts in the field. If players receive the correct understanding, and no misconceptions. Intuitive knowledge should be leveraged by use of consistent graphics and concepts in class and/or informal learning environments.
- 27. Immune Attack players retain terms and concepts and show increased confidence. Next Questions • How long do effects last? • Does playing Immune Attack again make the effects last longer? • If a teacher uses Immune Attack images to introduce the concepts of proteins and their function, would students retain the information better than their classmates who did not play? • Would a game that feels “easier to play” increase the confidence of a greater percentage of players? • How well does the game teach compared to a lesson on the topics? Designing your own game is also a powerful way to learn. Project based learning with a video game as a project scientists work on with kids is another project of mine.
- 28. Evaluation of Positive Effects of Video Game playing need not take 3 years. Important Questions can be answered without creating a new test of learning. • Does a game about the topic make students more likely to do further reading on that topic? • Does a video game increase the confidence of players? • Does adding a few quality games to your syllabus make students less likely to drop out, engage with the material, speak in class?
- 29. Harrisburg University Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technology Analyze DevelopEvaluate Design • Weave the learning into the game mechanic • Increase level of detail to increase understanding and engagement • Iterate on the game and test with target audience often • Assess learning, confidence and misconceptions • Involve subject matter experts as game designers • Use game aspects like levels, graphics, and well designed problems draw players into a self guided experience.
- 30. “Ultimately, designers need to recognize that a game’s theme does not determine its meaning. Instead, meaning emerges from a game’s mechanics – the set of decisions and consequences unique to each one. What does a game ask of the player? What does it punish, and what does it reward? What strategies and styles does the game encourage? Answering these questions reveals what a game is actually about.” Game Design Principles… A Game’s Mechanics Create Its Meaning and its Learning. Soren Johnson Developer for Spore, Civ 3 and Civ 4, speaks and writes about Game Design www.designer-notes.com
- 31. Find someone to help… create a whole review panel! Others include Maria Santore Department of Polymer Science and Engineering University of Massachusetts, Amherst William A. Muller, MD, PhD Magerstadt Professor and Chairman Department of Pathology Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University My PhD advisor, committee members, friends, chemists and biologists… 40 member “Science Advisory Group” is proud to have their names associated with our game and a line for “outreach” on their CV. Called me asking to help, recruited his colleagues, answers crazy questions, and asks crazy questions of his colleagues on our behalf.
- 32. Science Game Development Requires Iteration, Testing, and Discussion with Scientists and Educators Game design doc Self Efficacy Test Engagement Test Game Iterative Development of all these: Scientists involved continuously: Target audience misunderstandings and game related difficulties addressed with scientists
- 33. Science Games A “Science Game” is a game that allows the player to Gather information, Make a hypothesis, experiment and get feedback. A science game lets a player learn about concepts by experimenting with them, like a scientist would. Game features help allow player to learn Tutorial: small problems to solve Levels that increase in difficulty Integration of learning into the mechanic Feedback and clues: damage on the player’s character -or – two molecules drawn to look compatible
- 34. Abstract Concepts About Cell to Cell Signaling in Immune Defense Receptors 3D shape matters Bind to signals Cause cellular behaviors when they bind Cellular behaviors do not occur in presence of signal if receptor is absent Signals Move randomly, cannot “find” the receptor Only bind to receptors they match shapes with Cells Cannot locate the bacterium unless signal and receptors function Will move in the wrong direction if a signal binds a receptor on the wrong side The wrong receptor will not work: if cell is missing a receptor, the cell is missing a function.
- 35. Video Games and Simulations Video game created by Melanie Stegman, Lead Developer at CAELT, Harrisburg University Excellent example of a simulation of neuron firing, By PhET at the University of Colorado Boulder
- 36. Learning game development requires iteration Prototype Development Prototype Testing and Discussion Production Development Production Evaluation Tutorial For a Classroom Release Troubleshooting Service 15 weeks = 1 semester 6 months 2 years
- 37. www.ScienceGameCenter.org A curated list of >120 Science Games for older kids - adults Search by platform, subject or age group Read reviews by players, teachers, scientists and game developers Brought to you by Find Science Games
- 38. Harrisburg University Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technology Analyze DevelopEvaluate Design • Weave the learning into the game mechanic • Increase level of detail to increase understanding and engagement • Iterate on the game and test with target audience often • Assess learning, confidence and misconceptions • Involve subject matter experts as game designers • Use game aspects like levels, graphics, and well designed problems draw players into a self guided experience. Melanie Stegman, Ph.D. Lead Developer Mstegman@HarrisburgU.edu
Editor's Notes
- Melanie Stegman 1970 Born Cincinnati, OH 1987 Exchange student to Germany 1992 UChicago AB Political Science 2004 UCincinnati PhD Biochemistry 2005 Post doc Cornell Weill 2008 Project Manager 2009 Director, Learning Technologies First kid in family to go to college Driven but scared Now determined to explain Molecular Biology to everyone
- Concerns: Whether the correct concepts are actually being taught, whether younger children are confused by the concepts Erin Fertig’s work. I want to make sure that the correct concepts are being taught. Iterative process of deciding what to present, making the game, testing for comprehension. Intuitive understanding of how things work Pacman, Donkey Kong, IA Formal Surge, Medical Mysteries (MedMyst) Epistemological HHMI, CSI:The Experience
- How to teach molecular biology to the average person. Average person: last biology class was in high school. Tricky, because research shows that high schoolers leave high school and even leave their college level biology courses with Misconceptions!
- ----- Meeting Notes (7/28/12 15:22) ----- Short protocol Quantitative data Need a large N Well Controlled because each class is split in half
- To make a great game we need to include --Learning by doing --Learning by failing --Complexity enough to warrant replaying FLOW matters Why Video Games? Because visuals are effective at teaching Stories are effective at teaching Familiarity makes us confident: No one feels shy about expressing an opinion about famous people, even when they don’t actually know anything! Movies tell stories and make us feel familiar with molecules Games, however, have story, visuals, familiarity but also MOTIVATION and AGENCY Motivation to save the day “Save the princess” but there is more: We are motivated to stay with something when we feel like what we are doing in meaningful and challenging but not too challenging. (We are all scientists in this room, we work very hard, we push ourselves in to the uncomfortable, challenged part of this graph. And that is why for us, when we get a positive comment from a reviewer, from our advisor, or from someone else we respect then we feel motivated. The same is true for games. If a game presents itself as serious and then gives you positive feedback that is rich in context we feel very motivated. Casual games give us simple motivation: Essay steps to learn and simple rewards. More complicated games require more work to learn ho to play the game. And thus the reward is more seriously, more aligned with the context of the game. Fold It: Starts out casual: stars! But advanced players actually are playing a complex “game” of algorthim building and they compete for best algorithm. Reward to keep perfecting their algoruthms comes from other players and the leader boards… oh yeah, and publications: The ultimate in serious rewards. Voyager: Videos of Moon’s surface! Really nice realy life reward! Immune Attack: learning to fly the ship though some rings first and soon your reward is actually getting to see transmigration occur. And after 10-15 minutes of trying to make transmigration happen So a game designer tries to balance motivaion and challenge. Balancing these is a majoy part of good game design. Motivation to save the princess, heal the patient, orbit the moon
- I would be able to understand this diagram if I read it and think about it. 1 Disagree definitely 2 Disagree somewhat 3 Neutral 4 Agree somewhat 5 Agree definitely Girls: No Immune Attack: 2.64 Played Immune Attack: 3.42 Boys: No Immune Attack: 2.80 Played Immune Attack: 3.41 BOTH: No Immune Attack: 2.73 Played Immune Attack: 3.41
- T Test Stdev Effect size A. Transmigration IA 3.16 2.30x-07 1.13 0.47 Ctrl 2.50 1.21
- Wide and diverse audience, Flow maintains motivation, etc. Why use video games to teach? *Games can introduce whole invisible worlds* Scientist game developer creates a “conversation.” What do games teach? Spiral Curriculum Teach younger students advanced concepts Creating an accurate world. How to present cells and molecules accurately Game peer review Evaluation. How to test for intuitive learning? DATA demonstrating learning and attitude increases
- The main thing we offer you is a process: the iterative development of an interactive that is designed and tested to teach specific concepts to your students.
- This is a list of so of the concepts we teach in Immune Defense. These include straightforward concepts like the fact that the 3 dimensional shape of proteins matter, that molecules all move randomly Other concepts are more complex, including the fact that cells cannot see where they are going, that is a cells is missing a receptor is is missing a function, and that random diffusion of molecules like TNF and complement factor cause a chemical gradient that allows cells to track down bacteria. Receptors 3D shape matters Bind to signals Cause cellular behaviors when they bind Cellular behaviors do not occur in presence of signal if receptor is absent Signals Move randomly, cannot “find” the receptor Only bind to receptors they match shapes with Cells Cannot locate the bacterium unless signal and receptors function Will move in the wrong direction if a signal binds a receptor on the wrong side The wrong receptor will not work: if cell is missing a receptor, the cell is missing a function.
- Immune Defense is a simulation game, created by Melanie Stegman, with very pervasive game mechanics. It is designed to engage and teach novices about cells and molecules. On the right is a simulation created for high school students to demonstrate the function of transmembrane channels proteins in neurons. We know that computer simulations can be useful teaching tools. We also know that adding game-like features, can increase engagement. Game-like features can make the simulation more self directed, self paced experience for the student. The game-like features are for example, a tutorial which is basically a problem set that starts simple and builds on the students’ learning makes the simulation self directed Each problem to solve is a game “level” Good level design includes a clear goal and clear limitations Motivation to solve these problems comes from the fact that the problems progress in difficulty from very simple to more complex, but always in manageable steps. The sizes of the steps depends on the student’s intrinsic motivation. Will a student consult an assigned reading to solve a level? We optimize the difficulty of each level by play testing. You can see here that Immune Defense has goals and game mechanic added. On the right this simulation does not have any goals, the student is free to experiment but there is no assigned problem set. There is no win state as we say in game design terms. In this presentation, we will describe a bit of detail about games and how they differ from simulations. We will define for you a “simulation game” which is our optimized solution for effectively introducing novel abstract concepts. Then we will describe our process for designing a simulation game and verifying the effectiveness of our designs before we would begin development of the final product. We will show you that our development process is iterative, and we test our designs for effectiveness at teaching as well as engagement with your target audience before spending the time and money to develop them. The final product is a simulation game that students play independently, using the available tools to solve problems and enjoy finding clever (strategic) solutions to beat the game. We present as example of a well designed simulation game, Immune Defense. This game was designed and developed by Melanie Stegman, Ph.D. to present abstract cellular biology concepts to a young audience. Immune Defense, and any learning tool we would develop for you, is based on a set of concepts we want our audience to learn, a balance of game design and speed of presentation of new material that fit our target audience, and an evaluation method that proved we reached our goals. We would work with you to determine these optimal values for your students.
- The main thing we offer you is a process: the iterative development of an interactive that is designed and tested to teach specific concepts to your students.