Scientix Conference

Brussels, 24-26 october 2014

Annalisa Boniello

PhD in Teaching Earth Science

University of Camerino

Science teacher in Pitagora High school – Naples (Italy)

Our students have changed

radically. They use educational

virtual games, they know or use

simulation environments as

Minecraft, World of warcraft, the

wii or playstation, x-box.

These students need to be motivated in

different ways. (Mark Prensky)

Immersive methodologies produce an

improvement in cognitive and perceptual

dynamics (Aldrich, 2005)

The game is the preferred way of the brain

to learn things! (Diane Ackerman)

Who makes the distinction between

education and entertainment does not

know the first of the two! (Marshall

McLuhan)

[...] that culture, in its original phases,

bears the character of a game. (Homo

Ludens by Johan Huizinga)

Serious Game is a game in

which education (in its

various forms) is the

primary goal, rather than

entertainment.(Michael

and Chen, 2006)

Edutainment: A combination of education and entertainment.

Promote motivation because it

involves and entertains

The challenge increases in the

game

Promotes learning by doing

Promote active learning and

problem-solving skills

NEO

This... this isn't real?

MORPHEUS

What is 'real'? How do you define 'real'? If you're

talking about what you can feel, what you can smell,

what you can taste and see, then real is simply

electrical signals interpreted by your brain. This is

the world that you know.

Jessica Trybus is the New Media Institute’s resident Game-based Learning and Communications Guru and

Director of Edutainment for Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center

MUVE

A role-playing game is a game in which

the participants assume the roles of characters

in a fictional setting. (Multiplayer and single

player)

Simulations try as much as possible to

reproduce the experience as real as if the

player was actually in the situation represented.

Debriefing is an important phase in using simulation

games.

It is a process of receiving an explanation of a study or

investigation after participation is complete.

Participants are invited to make a connection between

experiences gained from playing the game and

experiences in real life situations.

In short, debriefing focuses on what participants may

have learned from ‘playing the game’ (Lederman,

1992).

•Role play

•Inquiry based science

education

•problem solving

• creativity

•collaboration and

cooperation

•Simulation of real scientific

context

•activity for authentic

evaluation

•Improving attention and

motivation

a virtual island has been created using OpenSim

( a open source software)

sismograph Tsunami

Magmatic rocks Minerals

Path in volcanic area

Phegreaean Fields

WHERE students in a role-playing

game (serious game) must pass

ability and expertise steps/tests,

solving various questions placed on

their path and acquire scientific skills

Sheet guide

Questions in the path

Tests : pretest and post test in google drive

Simulation of eruptions

Simulation of magmatic rocks

Serapide temple and BRADISISM IN

PHLEGRAEAN AREA

Inquiry based science

education

… and we can do a lot of thing…

• Static objects (prims as primitive objects)

• Dinamic objects (prims with scripts)

• Interactive objects (scripts, notecards or

textures in the objects-prims)

• Animations (animated objects and animations

for avatar)

Chat and voice

Walk and fly

Students solve questions, interact with objects and other students, explore volcanoes, rocks…

What are these

rocks?

Debriefing phase

James Paul Gee, in What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning

and Literacy, describes 36 principles to create a good game some

principles are:

Subset Principle: Learning first occurs in a simplified subset of the real

domain.

Active, Critical Learning Principle: Every aspect of the learning

environment should be set up to encourage active and critical learning,

instead of more traditionally passive learning environments.

Probing Principle: We learn by engaging with the world, reflecting on our

actions, forming hypotheses, re-probing the world, and then accepting

or rethinking these hypotheses.

Practice Principle: Learners need a great deal of practice in a context

where they are engaged with the material, not bored with it.(virtual

world).

Do not just use technology to "seek, read,

write and interact," but we need to "re-

think them" in relation to the 3D context