Who we are
The research of the Epistemic Games Group is conducted by faculty and students from a variety of backgrounds and institutions, bringing a truly interdisciplinary approach to our work.. If you’re interested in building and studying epistemic games and the future of education, find out more about who we are, and what we do.
We’re always interested in talking with potential collaborators and new epistemic gamers….
Elizabeth’s Graduate School Trajectory
Elizabeth (Sowatzke) Bagley entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a student in the Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development (CBSD) graduate program of the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. At the end of her first year, she met David Shaffer, he agreed to advise Elizabeth, and they started working on the Urban Science project. Elizabeth is now working towards double degrees in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development and Educational Psychology.
Science Learning and Sense of Place in an Urban Middle School
An aricle published in Cultural Studies of Science Education (2006, 1:107-142) discusses sense of place events for urban middle school students in an environmental statistics class.
The authors implemented a playground designer lesson in which 6-8th grade environmental statistics students worked on re-designing a playground. While reading the paper, I was excited about the prospect of having students work as playground designers. However, the pedagogy of the lesson seemed haphazard at best and didn’t incorporate any of the skills, knowledge, values, identity, or epistemology of the actual profession. No formal ‘charge’ from a city agency or neighborhood association. No final presentation of their findings. According to the authors, the students weren’t able to finish their designs due to time constraints.
It seems as though a little grounding in the theory of epistemic games might have taken that lesson and research project a long way.
More about “How Computer Games Help Children Learn”
This website has lots of additional information about How Computer Games Help Children Learn. From here you can:
Order the book online
Read what people are writing and saying about the book
Read about the epistemic games the book discusses
Read more about the research on which the book is based
Join the discussion about epistemic games and learning in the digital age of global competition
