http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/hatfield_dissertation_print_final.pdf

This study examines a 21st century theory of learning and cognition, Epistemic Frame Theory, which argues that expertise, such as the kind involved in complex thinking and problem solving, fundamentally involves diverse and dynamic connections between different forms of knowing and acting, guided by the norms and principles of a particular community.

In this dissertation, I consider the challenge of measuring and assessing epistemic frames using a new measurement tool, epistemic network analysis (ENA), which focuses on the patterns of relations between knowledge and other aspects of expertise as they are mobilized together in the discourse of complex practice.
The context for this investigation is science.net, a computer-supported role playing game in which young people take up the role of reporters-in-training and educational researchers take up the role of mentor editors in a simulation of a professional journalism practicum designed to help players begin to think like professional journalists.

Through epistemic network analyses of mentor and player discourse this experiment suggests the connections between the particular ways of knowing, doing, being, caring, and justifying that constitute an epistemic frame can be quantified and measured. In turn, this means epistemic frame theory can be tested, providing a more rigorous basis for the design of learning environments to better prepare young people for the complex demands of the future.

http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/Bagley-Dissertation-FINAL.pdf

This dissertation examines how one approach to environmental education, the epistemic game Urban Science, extends an environmental education framework into a virtual environment that creates opportunities for young people to develop a combination of the skills, knowledge, values, identity, and epistemology needed to be environmentally literate. The aim of this study is to determine whether having mentors communicate with players through a virtual chat program rather than face-to-face changes anything about the players’ experience. Specifically, this study examines virtual chat versus face-to-face conditions during Urban Science and asks:

1. Was the mentors’ discourse during the reflection meetings different between the two conditions?
2. Was the players’ discourse during the reflection meetings different between the two conditions?
3. Were the players’ outcomes different between the two conditions?
4. Was the players’ level of engagement different between the two conditions?

Overall, these results suggest that since using more words did not impact the quality of the players’ professional discourse during the reflection meetings, the exit interviews outcomes, the quality of their final proposals, or their level of engagement, mentoring via chat is a viable method for mentoring in the context of epistemic games. A bolder interpretation of the results suggests that since mentoring in virtual and face-to-face conditions produced similar effects on players, epistemic mentoring could be automated and still retain the quality of interactions and players’ level of engagement. If the epistemic mentoring is automated, epistemic games like Urban Science could become more widely available to young people giving them the opportunity to help the world “move beyond what we already know in order to break beyond the boundaries of now to a more beautiful fabric of the future.”

CCLI PI Conference Poster

http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/Chesler_ASEE_2011.pdf

The design of first-year engineering courses represents a classic engineering design problem there are multiple stakeholders with different criteria and constraints and, as a result, there is no single, optimal solution. Our goal was to develop a first-year engineering design course that meets the criteria and constraints of several traditional stakeholders and also provides a platform for studying the ways in which a first year engineering student progresses from thinking like a novice to thinking like a professional engineer. To do so, we developed a computer-based professional practice simulator that can be incorporated into pre-existing first-year Introduction to Engineering courses with minimal resources by course directors with no expertise in an engineering discipline. The simulation provides an introduction to professional communication styles, the engineering design process, library skills and citation requirements, and the engineering disciplines. Importantly, engineering knowledge and skills are not required to complete the two design-build-test cycles in the simulation; instead the emphasis is on managing conflicting client requirements, making trade-offs in selecting a final design and justifying design choices. This paper describes the design of the simulation and preliminary results from its inclusion in a first-year Introduction to Engineering course at our institution.

http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/DAngelo_CSCL2011.pdf

Teamwork and collaboration are vital 21st century skills that students need to master. Specially designed epistemic games modeled after professional practica can help students build and practice these skills. This paper presents preliminary results from a virtual engineering internship, an epistemic game for introductory engineering undergraduates. The game was designed to help build students’ skills in teamwork and collaboration while providing experiences relevant to engineering and design. After the internship students reported a better understanding of what engineers do and about the practice of engineering. Students also made content learning gains. Students overwhelmingly enjoyed the experience and felt encouraged to stay on an engineering career path.

Players of epistemic games – computer games that simulate professional practica – have been shown to develop epistemic frames: a profession’s particular way of seeing and solving problems. This study examined the interactions between players and mentors in one epistemic game, Urban Science. Using a new method called epistemic network analysis, we explored how players develop epistemic frames through playing the game. Our results show that players imitate and internalize the professional way of thinking that the mentors model, suggesting that mentors can effectively model epistemic frames, and that epistemic network analysis is a useful way to chart the development of learning through mentoring relationships.

Full article can be viewed here.

http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/aied2011_submission_153.pdf

Multi-party chat is a standard feature of popular online games and is increasingly available in collaborative learning environments, including epistemic games. However, little is known about the linguistic qualities of group conversation, especially regarding modality of communication. This paper addresses the differences between spoken and typed conversations as high school students interacted with the epistemic game Urban Science. Coh-Metrix analyses showed that speech was associated with more global aspects of text (narrativity, cohesion) whereas typed input was associated with more local aspects (syntactic simplicity, word concreteness). The spoken conversations were also more verbose than typed conversations. These findings suggest that the modality in group communication should be considered, particularly with respect to the breaks in discourse cohesion that are more prominent in typed group chat.

http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/04_shaffer_valor1.pdf

¿Qué haremos con los juegos de computadora?
Esta es una pregunta que está en la mente de padres y maestros en todo el país. Se repite en salas de profesores, oficinas de gobierno y reuniones de consejo.

Esto se debe a que nuestros estudiantes actuales viven en un mundo de sofisticación tecnológica y competencia global. La fuerza laboral en el extranjero está a un clic de distancia y los mejores empleos los obtienen aquéllos que han dominado las nuevas tecnologías digitales de información y comunicación, lo que les permite navegar a lo largo de un mar de imágenes, texto y video que a todos nos envuelve.

Por una parte, los juegos de computadora parecen ser una respuesta obvia al problema. Estamos ante una sofisticada tecnología que millones de estudiantes utilizan durante varias horas. Y no sólo la usan, sino que quieren usarla y muchos de ellos quieren usarla de manera desesperada. ¿Qué mejor manera de empezar a construir el interés y el entendimiento de estas nuevas herramientas digitales?

Por otro lado, hay una preocupación porque los estudiantes ocupan demasiado tiempo utilizando juegos de computadora. Hay una preocupación debido a que los juegos son violentos o tienen temas inapropiados para estudiantes de primaria o secundaria. Los maestros y las autoridades se preocupan porque los juegos distraigan a los estudiantes y hagan que las clases sean difíciles de manejar. Las buenas noticias son que de hecho, el dilema es una falsa elección, ya que la investigación actual demuestra de manera convincente que podemos tener lo mejor ambos mundos.

http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/05_shaffer_ciclistas1.pdf

Este documento explora una pregunta fundamental sobre los juegos educativos: ¿De qué manera ayudan las cosas que un jugador hace en un juego a hacer otras cosas en el mundo fuera del juego? El artículo enmarca el problema tanto en términos personales como literarios y después propone una perspectiva teórica particular sobre el tema. Se presentan datos y estudios empíricos de juegos de computadora que utilizan, exploran y amplían dicha teoría, aunque el objetivo principal del artículo es no abogar por una teoría en particular. En su lugar, el artículo ofrece un ejemplo de una clase más general de teorías que consideran al aprendizaje como simbólico y situado de manera simultánea y argumentan que este tipo de teorías son necesarias para el desarrollo del estudio del aprendizaje que se suscita en los juegos.

http://epistemicgames.org/eg/wp-content/uploads/06_shaffer_buscando1.pdf

En el pasado, los autores se han referido a los juegos como buenos “motores de aprendizaje”. En este artículo argumentan que los juegos son buenos motores de aprendizaje debido a que antes son buenos motores de evaluación.

Los juegos requieren el tipo de pensamiento que necesitamos en el siglo XXI debido a que utilizan el aprendizaje real como base para la evaluación. Ponen a prueba no sólo conocimientos y habilidades actuales, sino también la preparación para el aprendizaje futuro. Miden habilidades del siglo XXI como la colaboración, la innovación, la producción y el diseño mediante el seguimiento de muchos tipos diferentes de información sobre un estudiante a lo largo del tiempo.

Como ejemplo de la manera en que pueden usarse los juegos epistémicos como herramientas de evaluación, los autores describen un juego que ellos desarrollaron llamado Urban Science, en el que los jugadores trabajan como urbanistas que elaboran propuestas para el desarrollo de un área próxima a un gran humedal. Los juegos epistémicos pueden utilizarse para comprobar si los estudiantes pueden resolver problemas complejos utilizando habilidades del siglo XXI. Así, los autores sugieren que el camino para tener mejores escuelas empieza por hacer las pruebas en las escuelas más parecidas a los juegos que los estudiantes ya juegan fuera de la escuela.

Los autores contribuyeron de manera equitativa en la elaboración de este texto y sus nombres aparecen en orden alfabético.

Existe un viejo chiste: Un hombre estaciona su auto en una calle oscura y al tratar de cerrar la puerta, pierde sus llaves, así que entra a una tienda cercana para tratar de encontrarlas. El hombre piensa que la calle está tan oscura que es mejor buscar sus llaves dentro de la tienda, donde hay muy buena luz.

Es un chiste gracioso…o por lo menos eso pensábamos hasta que nos percatamos de que todos los que estudiamos los videojuegos y el aprendizaje hemos estado dentro de la tienda durante la última década, buscando nuestras llaves.