Highly Interactive, Fun Internet Virtual Environments in Science (HI-FIVES): Using Web-based Gaming to Improve Student Comprehension of Information Technology in Science

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This problem will give teachers experiences using web-based gaming and simulation software. Teachers will use authoring systems to develop educational games and try the games out in their classrooms. In the process, they will be learning content as well as programming and technology skills.Teacher participants will be recruited from an existing NSF-funded teacher fellowship program at North Carolina State University. They will attend a summer program, working with project staff and university faculty, to develop their activities. They will then spend a year refining their products and helping other teachers use them in their classrooms. A special focus will be on teachers of students with special needs and of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The outcome of this project will be 15 web-based science games that are classroom-tested, teacher-developed, and linked to state and national standards. An instructional guide for each game will also be produced. The instructional guide, as well as the games themselves, will be made available on websites. Other forms of dissemination will include workshops and presentations at professional meetings. Evaluation, both formative and summative, will be done by an outside organization. Items to be evaluated center on teachers' improvement in pedagogy, guidance counselors' awareness of IT career paths, and students' content knowledge in technology and basic sciences.