Shawn Holmes

Assessing twenty‐first century skills through a teacher created video game for high school biology students

As twenty‐first century skills become a greater focus in K‐12 education, an infusion of technology that meets the needs of today’s students is paramount. This study looks at the design and creation of a Multiplayer Educational Gaming Application (MEGA) for high school biology students. The quasi‐experimental, qualitative design assessed the twenty‐first century skills of digital age literacy, inventive thinking, high productivity, and effective communication techniques of the students exposed to a MEGA. Three factors, as they pertained to these skills, emerged from classroom observations. Interaction with the teacher, discussion with peers, and engagement/time‐on‐task while playing the MEGA suggested that students playing an educational video game exhibited all of the projected twenty‐first century skills while being engrossed in the embedded science content.

Drugs and the Brain: Learning the Impact of Methamphetamine Abuse on the Brain through a Virtual Brain Exhibit in the Museum

Drugs and the Brain: A Serious Game, a prototype museum exhibit, was designed to employ virtual models of the brain into a video game format. It was done to create a fun and engaging way of conveying knowledge and concepts about neuroscience, as well as the impact of methamphetamine abuse on the brain. The purpose of this study is to evaluate this prototype exhibit that promises to educate participants from various age, ethnicity, and gender backgrounds, and to establish a stronger concept of drug abuse prevention among children. A quantitative methodology using the pre‐ and post‐experimental designs was conducted on 175 museum visitors. A series of two‐sample paired t‐tests and subsequent ANOVAs were performed to examine the difference between pre‐ and post‐tests and to determine if there was a difference in the results in age, gender, ethnicity, and race. Results showed that both the understanding and attitudes of the participants toward the impact of methamphetamine abuse on the brain improved significantly (p < 0.01).

Measuring Student Perceptions: Designing an Evidenced Centered Activity Model for a Serious Educational Game Development Software

As educational games become more pervasive, the evolution of game design software is inevitable. This study looked at student perceptions of teacher created Serious Educational Games as part of a project striving to create a game development software where teachers and students create games as part of educational activities. The objective was to use evidence from student perceptions to inform further development of the software. A mixed method design ascertained data from 181 male and 178 females from 33 teacher created games. Results indicate that the software is relatively effective by the supporting documentation and training lacked in several areas. This information led to the creation of a commercial game development software set for release in 2010.

Mitigating the Hawthorne Effect Using Computer Simulations

The Hawthorne studies by Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939) that investigated workplace behavior have maintained a consistent presence in social science and education research literature (Chiesa & Hobbs, 2008). The Hawthorne Effect has been often noted in social experiments describing participants modifying their behavior during the investigation because they know they are being studied (G. Payne & J. Payne, 2004). This chapter explores the use of the Hawthorne Effect in the literature and incorporates the possibility of mitigating the Hawthorne Effect with an investigation of a computer simulation embedded with performance-based assessments. Participant responses about the effect of the simulation on their responses initiated this exploration in the Hawthorne Effect. Findings and implications delve into the applicable uses of computer simulations.