Teaching Neuroscience through Web Adventures: Adolescents Reconstruct the History and Science of Opioids

Miller, Leslie A.; Schweingruber, Heidi A.; Oliver, Robert J. Lemke; Mayes, Janice; Smith, Donna

doi:10.1177/107385840200800106

Cited by 21 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…The health meter changes based on the Critter's diet and physical activity. The diet meters represent daily nutritional requirements, based on the USDA recommendations for children [8][9][10][11][12] years old, and fill as the player feeds the Critter. Meters reset daily so they can be filled again the next time the player logs on.…”

Section: Meters the Game Displays Meters Representing Thementioning

confidence: 99%

“…8 The integration of health videogames into schools to improve weight-related behaviors is largely unexplored but has great potential for preventing childhood obesity. Videogames have been used in schools to teach educational content and convey health messages related to nutrition, 9 alcohol and drug use, [10][11][12] and hygiene. 13 Videogame acceptability may be critical to the ability of these games to impact behavior, as student satisfaction and usability ratings of videogames were positively correlated with knowledge gained.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13 Videogame acceptability may be critical to the ability of these games to impact behavior, as student satisfaction and usability ratings of videogames were positively correlated with knowledge gained. 10,11 ''Fitter CrittersÔ,'' developed by Megazoid Games (Collegeville, PA), is an online videogame intended for use in schools for children [8][9][10][11][12] years old, which won 2nd place in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Michelle Obama 2010 Apps for Healthy Kids contest. In the game, the player is responsible for the health of a virtual pet (Critter).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acceptability of an Online Health Videogame to Improve Diet and Physical Activity in Elementary School Students: “Fitter Critters”

Schneider

Ferrara²,

Lance³

et al. 2012

Games for Health Journal

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Objective: Interest in health videogames to stimulate health behavior change is increasing, yet little research exists on their use. This study tested the acceptability of an online health videogame called ''Fitter CrittersÔ'' (Megazoid Games, Collegeville, PA) for improving healthy diet and activity in elementary school students. Subjects and Methods: In October and November 2011, fifth grade students (n = 97) from a school in central Massachusetts played the game for 1 week during their health class. Measures of nutrition and activity knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy were completed prior to playing the game and again on the final day along with a videogame acceptability questionnaire. Results: The videogame was highly acceptable to participants as measured by the acceptability questionnaire mean rating of 4.52 (SD = 0.60), where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree; 73% of students played the game at least once outside of class. Significant increases in positive attitudes toward healthy eating (P < 0.001) and healthy eating self-efficacy (P = 0.02) and marginally significant increases in nutrition knowledge (P = 0.08) were observed. Conclusions: The ''Fitter Critters'' health videogame engages students in learning about healthy eating and activity. Further research should assess whether the positive changes observed in knowledge, attitudes, and selfefficacy translate into behavior change.

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Section: Meters the Game Displays Meters Representing Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acceptability of an Online Health Videogame to Improve Diet and Physical Activity in Elementary School Students: “Fitter Critters”

Schneider

Ferrara²,

Lance³

et al. 2012

Games for Health Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It also provides a context through which prior knowledge can be associated with new knowledge. Marrying this PBL approach, which has gained broad acceptance in many professional schools, with multimedia technology provides a type of hybrid instructional plan that can be delivered to a middle school audience through an instructional format described as "Web adventures" (Miller et al, 2001(Miller et al, , 2002 A key feature of the Web adventure format is that it draws from the research of Laurilard et al (2000) and Plowman (1997) regarding the value of narrative or storytelling as aids to the learning process. The narrative approach also reflects the anchored instruction research (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1993) used to build multimedia environments that have significant learning outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Online, Interactive Approach to Teaching Neuroscience to Adolescents

Miller

Moreno

Willcockson

et al. 2006

LSE

Self Cite

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Most of today's students are skilled in instant messaging, Web browsing, online games, and blogs. These have become part of the social landscape and have changed how we learn and where we learn. The question becomes how to harness the attractiveness and ubiquity of electronic venues toward the goal of teaching neuroscience. At the Rice University Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning, a central focus is the creation of innovative materials that appeal to middle school students. A recent project was undertaken through a Science Education Drug Abuse Partnership Award (R25 DA15063) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to inform adolescents about the neurobiology of substance abuse and the current research dealing with a class of drugs known as club drugs. Problem-based learning, multimedia pedagogy, and the National Science Content Standards were integrated to produce The Reconstructors™, an episodic series available via the World Wide Web at http://reconstructors.rice.edu . A field test of students from five schools assessed the retention of content after “playing” The Reconstructors™ series titled Nothing to Rave About. Gain scores indicated that middle school students' knowledge about club drugs and the basic neuroscience concepts that explain their effects improved significantly.

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“…• It grounds the use of text, graphics, animation, voice, music, and interactivity with a certain mood or theme (16).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy of MedMyst : an Internet Teaching Tool for Middle School Microbiology

Miller¹,

Moreno²,

Estrera³

et al. 2004

Microbiol Educ.

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Can web-based technology be used to effectively introduce or reinforce aspects of microbiology to middle school students? This central hypothesis examines whether brief exposure to a web adventure format containing virtual lab experiments and computer games within an engaging story line can impact student learning. An episodic adventure series, MedMyst (http://medmyst.rice.edu), focuses on infectious diseases and the microbes that cause them. The website is not intended to replace classroom instruction, but rather to engage students in problem-solving activities not likely to be encountered elsewhere. It also provides scientists with a resource to introduce microbiology to adolescent audiences through outreach activities. In the online adventure, the player (student) enters a futuristic world in which he or she becomes a "Reconstructor," a member of an elite team charged with preventing the spread of infectious disease. The series consists of three "missions," each lasting approximately 30 to 40 minutes and designed to address a limited set of learning objectives. Middle school students participated in the creation of the characters and the stylized design through focus groups. Classroom teachers oversaw the alignment of the web adventure objectives with the National Science Content Standards. Scientists and clinicians reviewed the web adventure for content and accuracy. A field test involving over 700 students from nine different schools assessed the knowledge gains attributable to playing MedMyst. Gain scores from pretest to posttest indicated that middle school students retained important information by interacting with the online material for as little as 30 minutes per adventure; however, gains for high school students were less persuasive, perhaps indicating a different learning tool or content is required for this age audience.

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Teaching Neuroscience through Web Adventures: Adolescents Reconstruct the History and Science of Opioids

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Acceptability of an Online Health Videogame to Improve Diet and Physical Activity in Elementary School Students: “Fitter Critters”

Acceptability of an Online Health Videogame to Improve Diet and Physical Activity in Elementary School Students: “Fitter Critters”

An Online, Interactive Approach to Teaching Neuroscience to Adolescents

Efficacy of MedMyst : an Internet Teaching Tool for Middle School Microbiology

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