Phase I: Epistemography
How do urban planners learn to become urban planners?
During the fall of 2005, an ethnography of an urban planning capstone class was conducted. The April version of the Urban Science epistemic game will include many of the practices observed during the ethnography, specifically the critical component of stakeholder involvement and feedback.
A study comparing the ways in which expert and novice planners solve problems is currently underway.
A more extensive epistemography will be conducted to uncover the learning processes involved in becoming an urban planner. Observations and interviews at both local planning firms and in urban planning courses taught at the University of Wisconsin will largely inform the content of this epistemography.
Phase II: The Urban Science epistemic role playing game
After we know how urban planners learn to become urban planners, we can start to design a learning environment modeled on those practices.
In the Urban Science epistemic role playing game, students will act as urban planners charged with the task of creating a comprehensive land use plan for their neighborhood. They will conduct a site visit, meet with stakeholders via handheld GPS units, and utilize Geographic Information Systems technology to generate their plans and communicate with their stakeholder groups. Finally, students will have the opportunity to present their proposed plans to practicing planners.
The task they will be presented with will not be easy. Just as urban planners must consider the wants and needs of the residents of the city they serve, so too will the students in the Urban Science epistemic game. Through their planning efforts, they will learn that land use decisions always have consequences. By realizing how those consequences affect all parts of their city, students will begin to understand ecological issues, especially those that pertain to how human beings interact with the complex urban system that must ultimately sustain them.
Gamer parents
In How Computer Games Help Children Learn, I argue that one of the best ways for parents to help their children make the most out of computer and video games is for parents to play them, and to play them with their children.
A recent survey (previously available at: http://www.techweb.com/wire/ebiz/177104437) shows that:
More than a third of American parents play computer and video games and 80 percent do so with their children….
