Co-Principal Investigator: James Laffey, Sean Goggins, William Romine (Wright State University), and Mark Bloom (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study)

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to develop and test a game-based, virtual environment and curriculum, Mission HydroSci (MHS), designed to support student learning in the topics of water systems science and scientific argumentation. MHS will be developed to meet the needs of teachers and students in blended learning contexts. For example, classes that meet in schools (as opposed to distance learning) and that use learning materials and experiences facilitated through online environments to supplement instruction. There are few models of online learning tools and curricula that meet the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). To address this gap, MHS will provide students with opportunities to learn about and develop argumentation competencies in the context of water systems science aligned with the NGSS through a game-based, online 3D virtual environment.

Project Activities: The researchers will develop and test the promise of MHS, a middle school replacement unit delivered via online learning implemented through a game-based 3D virtual environment. The unit will focus on teaching scientific argumentation within the context of water systems aligned with NGSS.

Products: Researchers will develop an online, 3D virtual learning environment designed to support middle school students' learning of water systems science and argumentation. Researchers will also produce peer-reviewed publications.

Project Website: http://mhs.missouri.edu

Structured Abstract

Setting: Development and testing of the intervention will occur in rural middle schools in central Missouri and will involve teachers and students from a network of schools using blended learning technologies.

Sample: Initial development will occur with a sample of 24 middle school students (Year 1), followed by a sample of 3 middle school teachers and their students (Year 2). The pilot study will have a sample of 20 middle school teachers and their students (Year 3).

Intervention: Mission HydroSci (MHS) will be a game-based, online replacement unit targeting middle school students' learning of water systems science and argumentation. The unit will be implemented in classrooms and span approximately 3 weeks (approximately 15 hours) of playing/learning time. MHS will include eight distinct game levels that will challenge students to negotiate core scientific ideas related to water systems, consider increasingly complex representations of water systems, and develop progressively more sophisticated argumentation competencies. In addition to developing the virtual, 3D game-based online learning environment, researchers will also develop lesson plans and teaching materials.

Research Design and Methods: The researchers will use an iterative design process to develop MHS software, curriculum, and teacher support materials. The project will progress through five iterative research and development cycles. Cycles 1–3 involve usability studies in which design features are tested and improved. In Cycles 1–2, the team will complete several lab-based studies with 9 to 12 students. During Cycle 3, the researchers will conduct a classroom-based usability study with one science class. Multiple sources of data will be collected to examine student engagement, learning, and technical issues and interactions with the software. A feasibility study with two teachers and their students is the focus of Cycle 4. Data will be collected to analyze system performance and changes will be made to the system as needed. During Cycle 5, the researchers will conduct a pilot study with 20 classrooms randomly assigned to MHS or business-as-usual conditions. The purpose of the pilot study is to test the theory of change, explore the accessibility and fidelity of implementation, and assess the promise of MHS for improving student engagement and science learning.

Control Condition: Students in the control condition for the pilot study will receive business-as-usual instruction on water systems science and argumentation.

Key Measures: Measures of key learning outcomes include researcher developed measures of student science learning aligned with NGSS, student argumentation skills, and knowledge of water systems science. Student engagement with the MHS system will be measured with the Sense of Presence Instrument, and student interest in science will be measured with the Student Interest in Technology and Science (SITS) instrument.

Data Analytic Strategy: Data collected as part of the iterative development process will be analyzed using qualitative methods to aggregate and synthesize feedback from teachers and students. Data from the pilot study will be analyzed using a linear repeated-measures multi-level model, where students are nested within classrooms.

Products and Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Romine, W. L., Sadler, T. D., and Wulff, E. P. (2017). Conceptualizing Student Affect for Science and Technology at the Middle School Level: Development and Implementation of a Measure of Affect in Science and Technology (MAST). Journal of Science Education and Technology, 26 (5): 534–545.

Sadler, T. D., Nguyen, H., and Lankford, D. (2017). Water Systems Understanding: A Framework for Designing Instruction and Considering What Learners Know About Water. WIREs Water, 4 (1): e1178.

Proceeding

Laffey, J., Sadler, T., Goggins, S., Griffin, J., Babiuch, R. and Sigoloff, J (2016). Mission HydroSci: A Game-Based 3D Virtual Learning Environment for Science Education. In Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Conference of ED-MEDIA . Vancouver, B.C.

Laffey, J.M., Griffin, J., Sigoloff, J., Lander, S., Sadler, T., Goggins, S., Kim, S.M., Wulff, E. and Womack, A.J. (2017). Mission HydroSci: A Progress Report on a Transformational Role Playing Game for Science Learning. In roceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (pp. 47).