The epistemic games group publishes research in academic journals, technical reports, books, and online.
How can we make sure that our kids are learning to be creative thinkers in a world of global competition?
Chronicling more than a decade of research in technology, game science, and education, the work of the Epistemic Games Group speaks to the ongoing debate about the pros and cons of digital 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.
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.
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.”
Hatfield, D. (2011) The right kind of telling: an Analysis of feedback and learning in a journalism epistemic game. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/hatfield_dissertation_print_final.pdf
Bagley, Elizabeth A. S. (2011) Stop Talking and Type: Mentoring in a Virtual and Face-to-Face Environmental Education Environment. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/Bagley-Dissertation-FINAL.pdf
