Despite the growivtgpopularity of robotics competitions such as FIRST LEGO League, robotics activities are typically not found in regular K-12 classrooms. We speculate that, among other reasons, limited t!.doption is due to the lack of empirical evid~nce demonstrating the effect of robotics activitie: on curricular goals. This paper presents a mixed methods study exploring the impact cf a s-..mzmer robotics camp on middle school students' physics content knowledge and scientific inquiry skills. It was found that the camp enhanced students' physics content knowledge but fai!ed to improve their skills in conducting scientific inquiry. Qualitative data provided an explanation of the findings. (
Game-based virtual learning environments have the potential to provide opportunities for engagement in authentic contexts while completing authentic tasks such as problem solving. However, research in problem-based learning indicates that scaffolding should be provided for learners to benefit from such learning environments. This paper describes the design of an anagogical encoding tool, a computer-based scaffold, in a game-based virtual learning environment. Research on analogical encoding suggests that teaching students to compare cases side-by-side to draw out the underlying principles improves knowledge acquisition and transfer. Analogical encoding aids students in attending to the deep underlying structures (ie, principles) of cases, thereby reducing the potential distraction of surface features. This paper intends to translate laboratory research findings on analogical encoding to a scaffolding tool in a game-based virtual learning environment.
IntroductionProviding opportunities for students to gain an experience in applying what they have learned in everyday authentic situations is a challenge facing instructional designers and teachers. Schools typically emphasise the transfer of abstract concepts where knowledge is viewed as a discrete object residing outside of the individual and learning occurs out of context (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989).
This chapter explores the challenge of balancing narrative development and instructional design in the creation of an electronic game-based learning environment. Narrative is a key factor in successful commercial games. The hero’s journey is explained and proposed as a model narrative structure for developing educational role-playing games and informing instructional design. Opportunities to embed various instructional strategies within the hero’s journey structure are presented.
Electronic games have the potential to support learning by doing and enhance student motivation. However, there is little guidance in the literature on how to leverage the affordances of electronic games to design effective instruction. This chapter is our effort to start to accumulate knowledge to guide the design of electronic educational games. We present a case study describing how the unique components of electronic games enabled the design of Conquest of Coastlands, a learning environment delivered as an electronic game. We describe how our team synthesized two sets of design principles from the literature on electronic games, instructional design, and intrinsic motivation and how these principles informed the design of Conquest of Coastlands. The principles and the related case study may inform the design of future electronic educational games and generate research questions to be investigated in empirical research.
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