SBIR Phase I: Online Game to Assess and Improve Behavioral Readiness and Social Emotional Skills for Students in Kindergarten and First Grades

这个SBIR第一阶段项目将促进对如何有效地使用基于游戏的方法来帮助学校为所有学生提供社会情感学习（SEL）指导的理解。这个SBIR项目的最终目标是创建和测试一个基于游戏的智能社交辅导系统（ISTS），评估和提高幼儿园和一年级（K1）学生的行为准备和社交情感（SE）技能。SEL是所有学生早期教育的一个至关重要的组成部分，努力把SEL带到全国？弱势的早期学习者将特别有影响力，特别是在帮助促进学业成绩的公平方面。拟议的系统将引导早期学习者学习，然后在受控的、引人入胜的社会模拟中练习SEL技能。这将为学校提供一个易于管理、可扩展的工具，以填补一个有相当大市场吸引力的利基市场。除了满足重要的社会和市场需求外，SBIR的研究结果还将用于更广泛地为游戏开发社区的工作提供信息。作为这项研发工作的第一步，SBIR第一阶段项目将（a）开发一个游戏原型，包括六个基于游戏的场景，旨在评估文献中与年轻学生入学准备和积极行为功能相关的基本SE技能（例如，情绪调节、移情、冲动控制）;（B）与K1学生一起进行游戏原型测试小组，以评估游戏的可用性和可接受性，并收集独立的父母评级和儿童SE技能的行为观察;（c）开发原型教育者仪表板材料，用于与学生一起管理SEL游戏，包括加强和扩展SEL游戏之外的资源;以及（d）与代表产品的可能购买者和/或用户的教师和其他教育工作者以及学生一起对游戏和仪表板原型进行测试，以评估所提议的产品的可行性和潜在价值。

This SBIR Phase I project will advance understanding of how game-based methods can be effectively used to help schools bring social emotional learning (SEL) instruction to all students. The end goal of this SBIR project is to create and test a game-based intelligent social tutoring system (ISTS) that both assesses and improves the behavioral readiness and social emotional (SE) skills of Kindergarten and 1st grade (K1) students. SEL is a critically important component of early education for all students, and efforts to bring SEL to the nation?s vulnerable early learners would be particularly impactful, especially in helping to foster equity in academic achievement. The proposed system will guide early learners to learn, and then practice SEL skills in controlled, engaging social simulations. This will provide schools with an easily administered, scalable tool to fill a niche for which there is considerable market pull. In addition to addressing significant societal and market needs, research findings from this SBIR will be used to more broadly inform the efforts of the game development community. As a first step in this R&D effort, this SBIR Phase I project will (a) develop a game prototype consisting of six game-based scenes designed to assess essential SE skills linked in the literature to school readiness and positive behavioral functioning for young students (e.g., Emotion Regulation, Empathy, Impulse Control); (b) conduct game prototype test groups with K1 students to assess the usability and acceptability of the game as well as gather independent parent ratings and behavioral observations of children's SE skills; (c) develop prototype educator dashboard materials for administration of the SEL game with students, including resources to reinforce and extend SEL beyond the game; and (d) conduct a test of the game and dashboard prototypes with teachers and other educators who represent likely purchasers and/or users of the product with students to assess the feasibility and potential value of the proposed product.