Collaborative Research: Investigating Gender Differences in Digital Learning Games with Educational Data Mining

协作研究：利用教育数据挖掘调查数字学习游戏中的性别差异

• 批准号: 2201799
• 负责人: Jon Star
• 金额: $ 8.7万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2201799&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Investigating; Gender; Differences

Despite evidence that gender differences in math achievement have narrowed or disappeared in recent decades, stereotypes about men being better than women at math emerge early in childhood and persist through adulthood. These perceptions appear to influence female students’ interest and performance in math, as well as their pursuit of STEM careers. Given the potential motivational benefits of digital learning games, games might provide a pathway for reducing math anxiety for female students while increasing their self-efficacy and interest in math. This project will explore whether digital learning games can lead to less math anxiety and better learning in female students, while not hurting male student learning. It will study learning with two existing digital learning games: Decimal Point, which teaches foundational math concepts (decimal numbers and operations) to 5th and 6th grade students; and Angle Jungle, which targets a similar age range (4th and 5th graders) and has a similar thematic design (i.e., a game map, cartoon characters), but with different game mechanics, content (angles), and instructional approach. The study will explore how and why Decimal Point has, over the course of several experiments spanning multiple years, consistently produced a learning advantage for female students. In doing so, investigators will identify principles regarding the relationship between gender and game features that can be shared with game developers and used in other games, starting with Angle Jungle.This work will go beyond the traditional gender binary of male and female, analyzing multiple dimensions of gender, including gender identity (e.g., how much students feel like a boy, a girl, both, neither), gender typicality (e.g., How much students like to do the same things as other girls [boys], How much students feel they look like boys [girls]), and gender-typed interests, activities, and traits (e.g., how much a student feels affectionate or adventurous). The study will also investigate two pathways hypothesized to lead to gender differences: first, that the playful features of the games reduce the saliency of the math content, making it less likely to cue math stereotype threat (the stereotype threat hypothesis); and second, that the games’ thematic details are more appealing to learners who identify (more) as females, making the games more engaging for them compared to learners who identify (more) as boys (the engagement hypothesis). In Year 1, educational data mining will be used to infer students’ cognitive and affective processes while playing Decimal Point and compare data to the distinct processes predicted by these two pathways. In Year 2, investigators will assess whether the hypothesized pathways and gender differences replicate in the context of Angle Jungle. In Year 3, hypotheses will be further tested by manipulating Decimal Point’s emphasis on math content in one version of the game and enjoyment and playful features in another. The project will compare learning outcomes between the two versions to more deeply explore the stereotype threat and engagement hypotheses. The ultimate aim of this work is to provide insights into gender-based differences in learning from digital games, providing principles and guidance for other researchers and game designers in developing and revising digital learning games. Thus, the project has the potential to transfer Decimal Point’s success with girls’ learning outcomes to other digital learning games and advance knowledge on the multidimensionality of gender. Furthermore, findings will allow investigators to revise both games and make them available to thousands of late elementary and middle school students across the country. Even during this project, approximately 1,950 students—including many from districts with diverse populations and low math proficiency¬—will benefit from learning with Decimal Point and Angle Jungle.This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

尽管有证据表明，近几十年来，性别在数学成绩上的差异已经缩小或消失，但关于男性比女性更擅长数学的刻板印象在童年早期就出现了，并一直持续到成年。这些观念似乎影响了女学生对数学的兴趣和表现，以及她们对STEM职业的追求。考虑到数字学习游戏的潜在激励效益，游戏可能为减少女学生的数学焦虑提供一条途径，同时提高她们的自我效能感和对数学的兴趣。这个项目将探讨数字学习游戏是否能减少女生的数学焦虑，提高女生的学习成绩，同时不影响男生的学习。它将通过两款现有的数字学习游戏来研究学习：向五年级和六年级学生教授基础数学概念（十进制数和运算）的Decimal Point；以及《Angle Jungle》，这款游戏针对的是类似的年龄范围（4年级和5年级），具有类似的主题设计（即游戏地图，卡通人物），但具有不同的游戏机制，内容（角度）和教学方法。这项研究将探讨小数点是如何以及为什么在多年的几个实验过程中，一直为女学生带来学习优势。在此过程中，调查人员将确定有关性别与游戏功能之间关系的原则，这些原则可以与游戏开发者分享，并用于其他游戏，首先是《Angle Jungle》。这项工作将超越传统的男女二元性别，分析性别的多个维度，包括性别认同（例如，有多少学生觉得自己像男孩，女孩，两者都像，两者都不像），性别典型（例如，有多少学生喜欢和其他女孩[男孩]做同样的事情，有多少学生觉得自己像男孩[女孩]），以及性别类型的兴趣、活动和特征（例如，一个学生有多少感觉多情或冒险）。该研究还将调查导致性别差异的两种假设途径：首先，游戏的好玩特征降低了数学内容的显著性，使其不太可能提示数学刻板印象威胁（刻板印象威胁假设）；其次，游戏的主题细节对女性学习者更有吸引力，与男性学习者相比，游戏对女性学习者更有吸引力（粘性假设）。在一年级，教育数据挖掘将用于推断学生在玩《小数点》时的认知和情感过程，并将数据与这两种途径预测的不同过程进行比较。在第二年，研究人员将评估假设的途径和性别差异是否在Angle Jungle的背景下复制。在第三年，假设将通过在一个版本的游戏中操纵小数点对数学内容的强调和在另一个版本的游戏中享受和好玩的功能来进一步测试。该项目将比较两种版本的学习结果，以更深入地探索刻板印象威胁和投入假设。这项工作的最终目的是洞察数字游戏中基于性别的学习差异，为其他研究人员和游戏设计师开发和修改数字学习游戏提供原则和指导。因此，该项目有可能将Decimal Point在女孩学习成果方面的成功转化为其他数字学习游戏，并促进对性别多维性的认识。此外，研究结果将允许研究人员修改这两个游戏，并将它们提供给全国成千上万的小学生和中学生。即使在这个项目期间，大约1950名学生——包括许多来自人口多样化和数学水平较低的地区的学生——将从小数点和角丛林的学习中受益。本项目由美国国家科学基金会EHR核心研究（ECR）项目支持。ECR项目强调在该领域产生基础知识的基础STEM教育研究。投资在至关重要、广泛和持久的关键领域：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大STEM参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。该项目支持积累有力的证据，为理解、建立理论解释、提出干预和创新建议提供依据。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。