Go Games Civics: Meeting Common Core Standards with Tablet-Enhanced Multiplayer Role Play Games

In 2012 during Phase I a prototype of one game was developed, in which students assumed the role of a legislator with a goal to pass amendments to a targeted bill. Research of this game included 8 students and one teacher and found that the prototype functioned as intended, and that students were engaged by the game. In Phase II, development work will focus on authoring content and designing role-play characters for three games, designing and developing the teacher portal, and creating formative assessments for each game. For each of the games, the researchers will use an iterative process where external experts, adults, teachers, and students will test and provide feedback to inform refinements. Once finalized, to test the usability and feasibility, the fidelity of implementation, and the promise of the games to increase student outcomes, a pilot study will include teachers and students from 30 classrooms. Half of these classrooms will use GoGames for two of three topics, then do a post-test, and then use the traditional method of a different game for the third game. A second group of classes will do the opposite. Analyses will compare pre and post scores on related civics items, and on critical listening, thinking, and collaboration skills.