N-Sector: Neuroscience Mystery Game

N-Sector：神经科学神秘游戏

• 批准号: 8251014
• 负责人: Alvin Rees Midgley
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: NOTABOOK PUBLISHING, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2014-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8251014
• 关键词: Action Potentials; Address; Alzheimer' s Disease; Americas; Attention; Behavioral; Biology; Brain; Brain imaging; Cessation of life; Cognitive; Development; Discipline; Disease; Educational process of instructing; Elements; Ensure; Evaluation; Event; Funding Opportunities; Generations; Individual; Internet; Knowledge; Lead; Leadership; Learning; Legal patent; Libraries; Link; Marketing; Memory; Motivation; Nerve Degeneration; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons; Neurosciences; Online Systems; Outcome; Oxygen; Parkinson Disease; Performance; Phase; Play; Positioning Attribute; Problem Solving; Process; Proteins; Psychological reinforcement; Reading; Role; Schools; Science; Sensory; Series; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Solutions; Stem cells; Students; Surveys; Synapses; System; Technology; Testing; Thinking; United States; Video Games; Work; Writing; Youth; base; brain machine interface; brain remodeling; career; demographics; design; digital; evidence base; high school; innovation; interest; neurogenesis; neurotransmission; science education; synaptic function; teacher

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal describes development and evaluation of an innovative, web-based, educational, mystery video game, N Sector that will engage a wide diversity of high school students in and out of classrooms, increase their knowledge of neuroscience, and promote their interest in neuroscience as a career path. The game will consist of a multi-faceted mystery incorporating shorter mysteries in a sequence of episodes. Each episode will require that the player help one or more neuroscientists solve a compelling problem. Solutions to the problems and puzzles incorporated into each episode will require inquiry of a neuroscience library and evidence-based reasoning facilitated by a patent-pending note-linking system that promotes critical thinking. Solution of the game will require solving the mysteries in the final and all preceding episodes. The episodes will include situations that are interesting to youth and will involve the wide breadth of exciting work that defines modern neuroscience. This includes the new views of brain remodeling or neuroplasticity; how these changes relate to memory as revealed by brain imaging; the role of stem cells in neurogenesis; brain-machine interfaces by which cortical activity can control external events; the role of neuronal death and neurodegeneration; and traditional elements like synaptic function, action potentials, and neurotransmission. These are exciting topics with the potential to motivate youth. Phase I evaluation will be conducted in four, demographically diverse high schools and will be designed to test the hypothesis that a carefully crafted video mystery game can motivate all students to learn about neuroscience regardless of demographics; that it can succeed while requiring substantial reading and reasoning about topics with substantive content; and that it can significantly enhance the interest of players in one or more sub-disciplines of neuroscience. Additionally evidence will be sought as to cognitive and motivational mechanisms responsible for observed outcomes, e.g. emphasis on content mastery versus game performance. If this motivating but simultaneously educationally serious video game supports our hypothesis, wide deployment could have an impact on interest and understanding of neuroscience and, by extension of the approach, perhaps to science teaching in a broader context. Combining a motivating video game with serious, inquiry-based library searching of content and using the discovered evidence to determine which of alternative hypotheses are supported and which are ruled out is innovative, original and unique. N Sector will be sold to school districts and individual schools through a distributor, and to individuals through the Internet on a subscription basis with password-protected access. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: With its leadership position slipping, the United States of America is facing an educational crisis that demands serious consideration of innovative approaches able to engage and motivate a wide diversity of youth to learn and think critically. N Sector directly addresses this need by creating an innovative, web- based, educational video game that will appeal to the digital native generation, teach the astonishing ways that neuroscientists are uncovering how our brains work, and lead players to become excited about neuroscience and interested in the field. If anticipated outcomes are realized, the approach could be extended to other fields of science and teaching.)

描述（申请人提供）：该提案描述了一款创新的、基于网络的、教育性的神秘视频游戏N Sector的开发和评估，该游戏将吸引课堂内外的各种高中生，增加他们的神经科学知识，并促进他们对神经科学的兴趣作为职业道路。游戏将包括一个多-在一系列情节中包含较短的神秘故事的多面神秘故事。每一集都要求玩家帮助一个或多个神经科学家解决一个令人信服的问题。每一集的问题和谜题的解决方案都需要查询神经科学图书馆和基于证据的推理，而这需要一个正在申请专利的笔记链接系统来促进批判性思维。游戏的解决方案将需要解决最后和所有之前的情节中的谜团。这些情节将包括年轻人感兴趣的情况，并将涉及定义现代神经科学的广泛的令人兴奋的工作。这包括大脑重塑或神经可塑性的新观点;这些变化如何与大脑成像揭示的记忆有关;干细胞在神经发生中的作用;大脑皮层活动可以控制外部事件的脑机接口;神经元死亡和神经变性的作用;以及传统元素，如突触功能，动作电位和神经传递。这些都是令人兴奋的话题，有可能激励青年。第一阶段评估将在四所人口统计学上不同的高中进行，并将旨在测试以下假设：精心制作的视频神秘游戏可以激励所有学生学习神经科学，而无论人口统计学如何;它可以成功，但需要大量的阅读和对具有实质性内容的主题进行推理;并且它可以显著地增强玩家对神经科学的一个或多个子学科的兴趣。此外，还将寻找与观察结果有关的认知和动机机制的证据，例如，强调内容掌握与游戏表现。如果这个激励但同时具有教育意义的视频游戏支持我们的假设，那么广泛部署可能会对神经科学的兴趣和理解产生影响，并且通过扩展该方法，可能会在更广泛的背景下进行科学教学。将激励性的视频游戏与严肃的、基于查询的图书馆内容搜索相结合，并使用发现的证据来确定哪些替代假设得到支持，哪些被排除，这是创新的、原创的和独特的。N部门将通过分销商向学区和个别学校出售，并通过互联网向个人订购 密码保护访问的基础。 公共卫生关系：随着美国的领导地位下滑，它正面临着一场教育危机，需要认真考虑能够吸引和激励各种青年学习和批判性思考的创新方法。N部门直接通过创建一个创新的，基于网络的，教育视频游戏来满足这一需求，该游戏将吸引数字原生一代，教授神经科学家揭示我们大脑如何工作的惊人方式，并引导玩家对神经科学感到兴奋并对该领域感兴趣。如果预期的结果得以实现，这种方法可以扩展到其他科学和教学领域。