Recent posts for Media
Epistemic Learning Does Work: Real World Examples
This video created by Translogic, describes an after school program called Minddrive . Minddrive is a not for profit organization that reaches out to at-risk students in the Kansas city area.
This video highlights Minddrive’s Lola project, an electric car that students help design, build, and market. Similar to games like Nephrotex , mentors guide students through the engineering design process and model ways of thinking like professional engineers.
The students who participate in this program are having fun while they are learning, and changing their career goals. One young man explained,
“It has changed me a lot. Before Minddrive I was hooked on becoming a professional athlete, basketball to be specific. But since then…it’s really been about my future and what I want to get my degree in, in college.”
Another young woman enjoys the sense of accomplishment.
“Hey I’ve built a car. What have you done?”
Epistemic Games has seen similar results regarding the diversity of women in STEM education. Nephrotex and Land Science present an exciting platform and opportunity for researching other underrepresented or at-risk students in STEM fields.
David Williamson Shaffer’s Presentation in the Digital Gaming Video Lecture Series
In March 2011, David Williamson Shaffer was the third presenter for the Digital Gaming Video Lecture Series at the Goodman College School of Education at Drexel University.
In his presentation, David describes how epistemic games can teach innovative ways of thinking, and how epistemic network analysis helps us examine the process by which such thinking is learned. He suggests that since epistemic games can measure patterns of thinking and learning– as opposed to the single snapshot that a standardized test captures– they are ideal tools for assessment.
David’s full presentation can be viewed here.
Nephrotex: An Epistemic Game
In Nephrotex, players are new hires at an engineering firm called Nephrotex. In the game, the players are asked to design new filters for dialysis machines. Watch this overview of the game to learn more!
Land Science: An Epistemic Game
Land Science is an Epistemic Game where students play the role of interns at an urban and regional planning firm in their state. This version features the planning firm “Urban Design Associates” located in Madison, Wisconsin. Watch the video to learn more about the game and hear feedback from students and teachers.
Epistemic Network Analysis Video
When creating an Epistemic Game, our designers hope to accurately copy a real-world professional environment. But how can you tell if players truly are thinking like professionals? This video describes Epistemic Network Analysis, one model used to compare the efficacy of digital learning tools to professional practice standards. In this video, Journalism.net is featured in relation to ENA as players become journalists.
