SIMAULA: A GAMIFIED SIMULATION FOR TEACHING INQUIRY-BASED LEARNINGPETROS LAMERAS, SENIOR LECTURER, SENIOR RESEARCHER IN SERIOUS GAMES, COVENTRY UNIVERSITY, FHEA, VISITING SCIENTIST MIT EDUCATION ARCADE LAB.

GAMES AND SIMULATION ENHANCED LEARNING CONFERENCE 3 NOVEMBER 2017

OUTLINE

• Setting the context

• Game Design

• Game Demo / Playtesting

• Research questions & Research methodology

SETTING THE CONTEXT

• In 2012 SimAULA was firstly conceived as conceptual idea for a training prototype game for engaging and motivating teachers to learn about best ways to teach and manage a science classroom. (First Phase as part of an EU LLP project)

• In 2014 the development continued to encompass a more research-informed participatory process to understand problems and challenges that science teachers experience with teaching science in real-classroom environments. (Second Phase as part of EU-FP 7 project).

• In 2016 and when we had a first prototype ready for testing we initiated a collaboration with MIT’s Education Arcade lab to play-test Simaula with 20 science teachers.

IDENTIFYING THE CHALLENGES IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR SCIENCE TEACHERS

• Professional learning is often perceived as irrelevant and ineffective to teachers’ needs.

• Science content changes rapidly and teachers need to update their knowledge and understanding continuously by providing the mechanisms through which content may be updated rapidly.

• Professional learning should be primarily oriented towards technical skills but should offer opportunities for adopting pedagogically-rich strategies for scientific inquiry.

• Professional learning should be closely connected with teachers’ actual practice including an emulation of the environment that teaching is taking place.

• Professional learning should integrate subject matter knowledge with pedagogical knowledge.

• Science knowledge is better accommodated and assimilated through inquiry and practice.

WHY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DEVELOPMENT FOR INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING USING A SERIOUS GAME?

• Giving teachers opportunities to experience science inquiry themselves in a simulated learning environment where they can decide and adapt their approaches to inquiry.

• Focus on specific essential features of inquiry learning designed for science teaching and learning that tend to be less well-used and well-understood by teachers.

• Reflective thinking, especially when a specific in-game inquiry activity is taking place for building awareness as teacher-practitioner-reseacher.

• The length of CPD programmes vary and sometimes is difficult to follow. A serious game may be used anytime anywhere allowing teachers to experiment with inquiry in their own time and pace.

• Enabling teachers to tailor their inquiry teaching based on student’s emotions, preferences and level of engagement visualised during game-

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF INQUIRY?

• Inquiry learning is a multifaceted activity and involves posing questions, carrying out investigations, analysing data, communicating findings and reflecting on learning in light of evidence (NRC, 1996).

• Students learn science in a way that reflects how science works (NRC, 1996)

• […] it also refers to authentic ways for investigating the natural world, explaining and justifying concepts based on evidence that can be transferred to a real world situation (Hofstein and Lunetta, 2002).

SIMAULA GAME DESIGN: OVERARCHING FRAMEWORK

Lameras et al., 2014

SIMAULA GAME DESIGN: ASSOCIATING LEARNING OUTCOMES WITH GAME GOALS AND TOPIC

Learning outcomes Game Goals Science topic

Orienting and asking questions

1. To understand how an inquiry question may be posed to students

2. To understand how to guide students in forming their own questions.

3. To become aware of how an inquiry question and subsequent follow-up questions and and probes lead to a

classroom discussion

1. Ask 1 inquiry-based question 2. Ask 3 inquiry-based questions in a

row 3. Get 5 great ratings in a row 4. Get all students in asking

meaningful inquiry questions 5. Start 3 classroom discussions

CO2 - Free emission house

Hypothesis generation and

design

1. To understand how a hypothesis is being posed to students

2. To understand how to guide students in formulating hypothesis

by guiding them via a list. 3. 3. Students make their own

hypothesis based on evidence

1. Ask 3 inquiry questions in a row 2. Get all students to become

inquisitive / curious 3. Get 2 students think about a

hypothesis 4. Geta a students to test a

hypothesis by an artifact

The electromagnetic

spectrum

GAME PROCESS FOR LEVEL 1 - PATH FOR WIN AND LOSE CONDITION

OVERARCHING GAME MECHANIC: NESTED DIALOGUES

MECHANICS, DYNAMICS AND AESTHETICS (MDA)

Game elements

Game rules

responding to inquiry questions & refining through feedback

Feeling of fascination

about inquiry when stage

Feeling of failure, re-

attempt and adjustment

Feeling of achievement

when students are adopting inquiry

learning

Categories of description (Referential

aspect)

dimensions of variation

(structural aspect)

Outcome Space

(linking referential with

structural

Game mechanics Dynamics AestheticsConceptions

of inquiry learning using Simaula

NESTED DIALOGUES IN GAME VISUALISATION

PROBING FORMATIVE FEEDBACK

INTERACTION WITH STUDENT - ATTENTION AND COMPREHENSION MECHANICS

CONTEXTUAL FEEDBACK TO POOR QUESTIONS

ACCESSING IN-GAME DATA FOR TRACKING PROGRESS

TO INSTIGATE THE PRINCIPLES OF PROJECTS, PLAY, RESEARCH AND GROUP WORK.

Let’s do some play testing!

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• What are teachers’ conceptions of, and approaches to, inquiry-based learning using a serious game?

• How a serious game may enhance teacher professional training for inquiry-based learning?

• What are the implications of designing in—game learning elements for technology-enhanced learning innovation?

UNDERSTANDING TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES OF USING SIMAULA FOR INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING

• A research study is currently curried out for investigating variation in ways inquiry-based learning is experienced using Simaula.

• Phenomenography is being used as the overarching methodology for demarcating qualitatively different ways of experiencing IBL using a serious game.

• Focus groups with 20 science teachers have already been conducted with 20 science teachers at MIT.

• Semi-structured questions are being designed for collecting experiences and variation in meaning.

• The output of the analysis will be: a set of categories of description, dimensions of variation and outcome space.

Thank you for listening!