26 Mar, 2012 with 0 comments so far
Bagely, E & Shaffer, D.W (2010) Stop Talking and Type: Mentoring in a Virtual and Face-to-Face Environment. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning.
Abstract Virtual environments allow users to explore complex concepts using
simulations of real-world problems. In order to examine whether having mentors
communicate with players through a virtual chat program rather than face-to-face
changed anything about the players’ experience, this study compared a virtual chat
and a face-to-face condition of the epistemic game, Urban Science. 21 high school
aged players were randomly assigned to either the virtual chat or face-to-face
condition, and all players played Urban Science for 10 hours. As part of the game,
they participated in six reflection meetings led by their mentor, completed intake
and exit interviews, and wrote a final proposal. Using discourse analysis, epistemic
frame theory, and epistemic network analysis, this paper examines the mentors’ and
players’ reflection meeting discourse and the players’ interviews and final
proposals and asks whether there were differences in discourse, outcomes, or
engagement levels between the two conditions. This study concludes that virtual
mentoring can be just as effective as face-to-face mentoring and suggests that
mentoring via chat is a viable method for mentoring in the context of epistemic
games.
14 Mar, 2012 with 0 comments so far
David Williamson Shaffer always says that the biggest Star Trek travesty is not that you can’t download them for free, but that 300 years in the future we are still imagining school the way we looked at it hundreds of year ago. Fortunately for students of the future Epistemic Games and others are applying today’s technology to the future of learning.
And techies everywhere are beginning to notice.
Mashable- the largest independent news source dedicated to covering digital culture, social media and technology- has found eight specific ways that technology is improving the future of education.
1. Better Simulations and Models– At Epistemic Games we constantly reinvent our games to make the simulations to better suit the students and make a realistic experience.
2. Global Learning
3. Virtual Manipulatives
4. Probes and Sensors
5. More Efficient Assessment– Epistemic Games is also working on ENA to analyze the data from our games.
6. Storytelling and Multimedia
7. E-books
8. Epistemic Games
5 Mar, 2012 with 0 comments so far
Orrill, C. H., & Shaffer, D. W. (July 2012). Exploring connectedness: Applying ENA to teacher knowledge. Paper presented at International Conference of the Learning Sciences 2102, Sydney.
http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/Orrill-Shaffer-ExploringConnectedness.pdf
In this study, we consider teacher knowledge of mathematics from the perspective of connectedness. To accomplish this, we adapted Epistemic Network Analysis techniques to characterize the connections between and among pieces of teacher knowledge related to on aspect of proportional reasoning. We discuss the value of this approach as well as directions
for further research.
2 Mar, 2012 with 0 comments so far
Recently a PBS Wisconsin Media Shift blog post got people talking about Epistemic Games. Aran Levasseur highlights David Williamson Shaffer’s book, “How Computer Games Help Children Learn,” and positioned epistemic games as the future of education—an idea that the Epistemic Games Group has been arguing for years.
Levasseur gets straight to the point when he says schools need to be looking to the future, not the past, for innovations in the classroom.
“As schools aim to prepare students for life outside of school, they need to realize that the world now values knowledge and skills that can be applied in creative ways. Epistemic games fit the learning requirements of today’s world because they allow students to role-play professions while learning skills that they apply in the game.”
Levassuer’s article is a great review of the epistemology that is behind Epistemic Games and learning through play.
“In playing games,[students] are doing explicitly, openly and socially what as adults they will do tacitly, privately and personally. They are running simulations of worlds they want to learn about in order to understand the rules, roles and consequences of those worlds.”
27 Feb, 2012 with 0 comments so far
David Williamson Shaffer was invited to speak for Arizona State University Learning Sciences Institute’s ALL series.
This video presents a perspective on learning and assessment suited to the realities of modern work and education in a knowledge-based society. Shaffer explores the research behind Epistemic Games.
“The work that I have been trying to do is to develop a game-like environment, a culture, where you would actually be able to learn, to think; in the way that people in the real world who solve problems; do.”
In particular he points to Nephrotex, an Epistemic Game that teaches students to behave like engineers, and the different engineering gender gap theories. Shaffer argues that students
“…actually came into engineering so they could be engineers. They spend the first three years of engineering doing calculus, basic science courses and they aren’t actually designing anything.”
Nephrotex lets first year students experience what it actually means to be a professional engineer by participating in authentic engineering design. Epistemic games like Nephrotex can be used to propel education forward in the 21st century.
