Development and evaluation of a serious game for bullying prevention with young students

摘要 欺凌行为在学龄儿童中非常普遍，在幼儿园的发生率大致相同 和小学后期一样的一年级(K1)。研究强调了幼年欺凌是多么的严重 预示着持续的欺凌和同伴受害，以及所有相关人员--欺凌者、受害者和旁观者-- 在孩子的社会、情感和学术生活的许多方面都面临着更高的负面结果风险。 最近对以学校为基础的项目的审查表明，对欺凌行为采取惩罚性、惩罚性的方法 预防不起作用，社会情感学习(SEL)是有效计划的关键因素。 不幸的是，后勤障碍(例如，时间、成本、对训练有素的工作人员的需求)往往会削弱学校的能力 与所有学生一起实施传统的面对面SEL策略。SBIR Fast-Track将利用Cutting- 边缘智能社交辅导游戏技术，打造一款全新的、以证据为基础的严肃游戏 旨在帮助年轻学生培养他们在应对欺凌情况时所需的社交情感技能。 3C Institute是基于游戏的智能社交辅导系统(ISTS)领域的领导者，拥有广泛的 体验创建和测试SEL游戏。3C与华盛顿州贝尔维尤公立学校的持续合作， 学校中的社区-北卡罗来纳州维克县公立学校和我们的商业化合作伙伴个性化 学习游戏，将为构建、测试和商业化建议的 严肃的K1 SEL游戏产品。实现五个具体目标。在第一阶段，我们将(1)创建一个 基于来自K1学生、家长和教育工作者的输入的严肃游戏原型，带有定制的图形设计 和故事世界和五个原型社会问题解决(SPS)场景。我们还将(2)进行最终用户测试 与K1学生和教育工作者一起审查和评估原型。在第二阶段，我们会(3)发展 通过迭代测试流程获得完整产品，总共有25个SPS场景与CASEL的SEL保持一致 框架(自我管理、自我意识、社会意识、人际关系技能和负责任的决策 制作)以及在线学生门户、家庭门户和教育者门户。然后，我们将(4)进行随机抽样调查 对照先导研究，检验严肃游戏对改善K1学生社交情绪行为的影响。 解决欺凌问题的能力、应对欺凌的自我效能感和对行为的认识 这构成了欺凌。我们预计SEL严肃的比赛将在所有领域产生重大改进 与主动对照组比较。最后，我们将(5)通过开展Focus为商业化做准备 小组与教育工作者一起敲定完整的产品，并为学校制定实施指南。 我们还将开发所有需要的在线培训演示和材料，最终确定在线报告功能，以及 将电子商务功能融入网站。我们建议的产品将满足巨大的市场需求，因为 第一款经过严格测试的预防SEL欺凌的严肃游戏，面向年轻学生。我们已经这么做了 确保了进入市场的途径，个性化学习游戏公司致力于提供该产品。

Abstract Bullying is all too common in the early school years, occurring at approximately the same rate in Kindergarten and 1st (K1) grades as in later elementary school. Research underscores how bullying at an early age is predictive of continued bullying and peer victimization, and how all involved—bullies, victims, and bystanders— are at elevated risk for negative outcomes in many aspects of a child's social, emotional, and academic life. Recent reviews of school-based programs demonstrate that punitive, disciplinary approaches to bullying prevention do not work, and that social emotional learning (SEL) is a critical ingredient in effective programs. Unfortunately, logistical barriers (e.g., time, cost, need for trained staff) too often undermine schools' abilities to implement traditional in-person SEL strategies with all students. This SBIR Fast-Track will leverage cutting- edge intelligent social tutoring game technology to create a new, evidence-based serious game specifically designed to help younger students develop the social emotional skills they need to navigate bullying situations. 3C Institute is a leader in the field of game-based Intelligent Social Tutoring Systems (ISTS) with extensive experience creating and testing SEL games. 3C's ongoing collaboration with the Bellevue Public School in WA, Communities in Schools-Wake County Public Schools, NC, and our commercialization partner, Personalized Learning Games, will provide a solid foundation on which to build, test, and commercialize the proposed serious K1 SEL game product. Five specific aims will be accomplished. In Phase I, we will (1) create a serious game prototype based on input from K1 students, parents, and educators with a custom graphic design and storyworld and five prototype social problem solving (SPS) scenes. We will also (2) conduct end user tests with K1 students and educators who will review and evaluate the prototype. In Phase II, we will (3) develop the full product through an iterative testing process for a total of 25 SPS scenes aligned to CASEL's SEL framework (Self-management, Self-awareness, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, & Responsible Decision Making) as well as online Student, Home, and Educator Portals. Then, we will (4) conduct a randomized active control pilot study to test the serious game's impact for improving K1 students' social emotional behavior, ability to problem solve in bullying situations, self-efficacy for coping with bullying, and awareness of behaviors that constitute bullying. We expect the SEL serious game to result in significant improvements in all areas compared to the active control group. Lastly, we will (5) prepare for commercialization by conducting focus groups with educators to finalize the complete product and formulate implementation guidelines for schools. We will also develop all needed online training demos and materials, finalize online reporting functions, and integrate e-commerce functions into the website. Our proposed product will meet a significant market need as the first rigorously tested serious game for SEL bullying prevention with younger students. We have already secured a pathway to market, with Personalized Learning Games, Inc. committed to offering the product.