N-Sector: Neuroscience Mystery Game

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案描述了一个创新的、基于网络的、教育的、神秘的电子游戏“N Sector”的开发和评估，该游戏将吸引各种各样的高中生在课堂内外，增加他们对神经科学的知识，并促进他们对神经科学作为职业道路的兴趣。这款游戏将包含一个多方面的谜题，在一系列情节中包含较短的谜题。每一章节都要求玩家帮助一名或多名神经科学家解决一个引人注目的问题。要解决每一集的问题和谜题，需要对神经科学图书馆进行查询，并通过正在申请专利的笔记链接系统促进基于证据的推理，以促进批判性思维。游戏的解决方案将需要解决的奥秘在最后和所有之前的情节。这些情节将包括年轻人感兴趣的情景，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；脑成像揭示了这些变化与记忆的关系；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；神经元死亡与神经退行性变的作用传统的元素，比如突触功能，动作电位，和神经传递。这些都是令人兴奋的话题，有可能激励年轻人。第一阶段的评估将在四所不同人口结构的高中进行，目的是测试一款精心制作的电子谜题游戏是否能够激励所有学生学习神经科学，而不考虑人口结构；它可以在需要大量阅读和推理具有实质性内容的主题时取得成功；它可以显著提高玩家对神经科学的一个或多个分支学科的兴趣。此外，我们还将寻找导致观察结果的认知和动机机制的证据，例如，强调内容掌握与游戏表现。如果这款具有激励性但同时又具有教育意义的电子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，并通过扩展该方法，可能会对更广泛背景下的科学教学产生影响。将激励电子游戏与严肃的、基于查询的图书馆内容搜索结合起来，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、原创和独特的。《N Sector》将通过经销商销售给各学区和个别学校，并通过网络订阅方式销售给个人

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.)