Empiric Empires: Game-based learning preparing students for health careers

来自服务不足和少数民族社区的学生不仅在卫生保健领域代表性不足， 专业，但也学术上没有准备好成功的专业导致这些工作。现有应用程序 在提高数学成绩方面一直不成功，很大程度上是因为三分之二的教育技术 学校购买的许可证从未使用过。要在教育程序中使用，软件必须 适应预算，硬件和互联网的限制，但仍然提供学生的参与， 安装和使用。我们的目标是开发和测试一个原型集成软件平台， 基于移动的游戏的学习软件，具有吸引力，有效，可在低端设备上运行。 《帝国》的创新有四个方面：1）一个更快、更便宜地开发软件的平台， 2)强调角色和叙事，而不是视频和3D图形，支持在低端移动的上安装 设备3）嵌入真正的冒险游戏中的教育和评估内容，以及4）跨课程 内容包括数学、社会研究和健康科学。游戏中收集玩家答案的数据 数学和健康科学问题提供了一个基线的学生预先存在的知识和措施， 教学材料的有效性。视频在很大程度上被画外音和动画GIF所取代， 小说和人物之间的"短信"。 我们将通过创建阿兹特克时代（一个面向中学的移动的应用程序）来验证这个平台 数学标准与流行病学和生物统计学的概念相结合。我们会进行 在阿兹特克时代进行可用性测试，最大样本为60名中学生。测试人员将 从三个地点的项目中提取：加州的一个多样化的城市社区和美国印第安人保留地 在北达科他州和南达科他州从访谈和观察中获得的定性数据将在 五个用户案例研究，确定典型和"边缘"用户。在整个项目中，定量数据将 以电子方式收集的频率和持续时间的游戏会话，模块完成和正确，或 对STEM挑战的不正确回应。将生成学习任务数量的描述性统计数据 数学和健康科学问题的完整正确答案，总体和按研究中心列出。MANOVA将 用于测试性别和地点的差异。 原型阶段以完成设计文档、可用性数据和数据代码库结束 收集活动，基于游戏的指导和应用程序内的插件，可以在第二阶段扩展 开发一个商业产品。在解决了让学生使用软件的问题之后 在第一阶段，我们可以定期评估使用对数学和公共卫生科学知识的影响 和对健康事业的兴趣。 !

Students from under-served and minority communities are not only under-represented in the health professions but also academically unprepared to succeed in majors leading to those jobs. Existing applications have been unsuccessful in raising math scores, in large part because two-thirds of educational technology licenses purchased by schools are never used. To be usable in educational programs, software must accommodate limits on budget, hardware and Internet yet still offer engagement of students, ease of installation and use. Our goal is to develop and test a prototype integrated software platform to rapidly create mobile game-based learning software that is engaging, effective and runs on low-end devices. The innovation in Empiric Empires is four-fold; 1) a platform that develops software faster and cheaper, 2) emphasis on character and narrative, over video and 3D graphics, enabling installation on low-end mobile devices 3) educational and assessment content embedded in a true adventure game and 4) cross-curricular content including mathematics, social studies and health science. In-game data collection of players’ answers to math and health science questions provides a baseline of student pre-existing knowledge and a measure of effectiveness of the instructional material. Video is largely replaced with voiceovers and animated gifs, graphic novels and ‘text-messaging’ between characters. We will validate this platform with the creation of Aztec Era, a mobile app for middle school mathematics standards with incorporation of concepts from epidemiology and biostatistics. We will conduct usability testing on Aztec Era with a maximum variation sample of 60 middle school students. Testers will be drawn from programs in three sites: a diverse urban community in California and American Indian reservations in North and South Dakota. Qualitative data generated from interviews and observations will be summarized in five user case studies, identifying typical and “edge” users. Throughout the project, quantitative data will be collected electronically on frequency and duration of gameplay sessions, modules completed and correct or incorrect responses to STEM challenges. Descriptive statistics will be generated for number of learning tasks completed, correct answers, for mathematics and health science questions, overall and by site. MANOVA will be used to test for differences by gender and site. The prototype phase ends with a completed design document, data on usability and a codebase of data collection activities, game-based instruction and in-app reinforcers that can be expanded in Phase II development of a commercial product. Having solved the problem of getting students to use the software regularly in Phase I, we can assess the impact of use on knowledge of mathematics and public health science and interest in health careers in Phase II. !