Education Projects
NEWS: Click here: Lovinggood - SPSU Gaming Social - March 25, 2010
SPSU/Lovinggood Game Collaboration Project
Coordinated by Tech Matters
Tech Matters and Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) are collaborating with Mrs. Shockley’s 8th grade AC Science classes at Lovinggood Middle School to develop and use educational games incorporating Georgia science standards.
Last year, Tech Matters and SPSU collaborated on a similar program with the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics (MCAA). The 5th Grade Gifted Students helped develop Ocean Quest, an educational game fulfilling the curricular requirements for the 2009 spring semester science section. Since Ocean Quest was a success, Tech Matters and SPSU wanted to expand to other school systems.
In the fall of 2009, Dr. Jon Preston and Briana Morrison wanted to provide more game design experience as part of the new curriculum for the Bachelor of Science degree program in Computer Game Design and Development. Their students go through discovery, design, and actually produce final products that are delivered to the schools. This activity provides invaluable experience in more than programming alone.
In October 2009, Mrs. Ethel Shockley, working with her principal, Mrs. Elizabeth Wilson, agreed to a try a test program at Lovinggood Middle School. Mrs. Shockley’s 8th grade AC Science students are meeting with the SPSU programming students to develop educational games.
The goal: 8th grade students provide ideas for educational games based on specific Georgia educational standards:
- S8P3 investigating relationship between force, mass, and the motion of objects
- S8P4 exploring the wave nature of sound and electromagnetic radiation
The students learn about science as they help develop and test the games. They also learn as they play the games since they are designed to fulfill those standards.
The process: Milestone 1: Gather Input
- Mrs. Shockley’s classes brainstorm games ideas could be designed around Georgia science standards.
- Dr. Preston and his students brainstorm game design possibilities.
- Dr. Preston, Christian Rohling and Tech Matters meet with three 8th grade classes to get their ideas.
Milestone 2: SPSU Develops Prototypes
- The SPSU teams work together to design the prototypes.
- Meet with 8th grade to agree on proof concept – this will be the Gaming Social held March 25th.
Milestone 3: Develop beta
- SPSU designs beta for 8th grade to use.
Milestone 4: Deploy
- SPSU finishes and deploys the game.
Tech Matters is committed to finding new and exciting ways for young students to study the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. These disciplines provide experience in learning, experimenting, and making trade-offs based on observed data. These are essential skills students need as they grow into adulthood and make decisions on real life complex issues.
Southern Polytechnic State University Computer Programming and Design program encourages students to gain practical experience as part of the university educational experience. In the spirit of finding those opportunities, SPSU has formed a Center for Applied Gaming and Media Arts (CAGMA) whose mission “is to bring together a diverse collection of teachers and researchers to create game and media applications for enhancing K-16 learning, corporate training, entertainment, and public policy advocacy. The center also provides a venue in which undergraduate and graduate game and media projects can develop into commercially viable products.”
Tech Matters looks forward to continuing our work with SPSU and CAGMA to provide young students the unique opportunity to learn while doing.
OCEAN QUEST
An SPSU/MCAA Collaborative Project
Coordinated by Tech Matters
October 1, 2009
Tech Matters is dedicated to creating collaborative projects that promote active experiential learning, with organizations that support authentic, experiential learning with a focus on the STEM subjects. The SPSU/MCAA’s educational game, Ocean Quest is the product of a synergistic relationship between Tech Matters, Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU), and the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics (MCAA). MCAA, a 3rd – 5th Grade Magnet school, focuses on STEM subjects and knows learning does not occur in a vacuum.
Ocean Quest was a combined effort in which the MCAA fifth grade gifted students and a group of SPSU computer programming students worked together to develop an educational video game to enhance the MCAA’s Spring Oceanography Curriculum. Marka Ormsby and Robin Daniel from Tech Matters, LLC., facilitated the project.
Background
In fall, 2008, SPSU unveiled the School of Computing and Software Design’s new video game development lab. Recognizing that designing a video game for a real audience would be a great opportunity for computer programming students, Jon Preston, Associate Professor of software development at SPSU agreed to work with Tech Matters and MCAA to develop a useful serious game that would enhance the 5th grade gifted student curriculum.
The joint venture provided educational benefits for SPSU and MCAA students beyond programming and use of a custom game. The collaborative project was an educational experience that involved students at both schools working together throughout the design and testing phases of game development.
Ocean Quest rolled out in the spring of 2009, and the 5th gifted students to it use to help fulfill curricular requirements for their oceanography section. It provided the players the opportunity to build a submersible, explore the ocean depths, and capture fish (requiring species identification).
Project goals for 2009-2010
With success of the Ocean Quest collaborative game development, SPSU and MCAA will continue to collaborate to enhance Ocean Quest and develop a new Economics Game. SPSU’s Jon Preston and Briana Morrison will sponsor and mentor the SPSU game developers students, and Tech Matters will help MCAA coordinate their student collaboration through Gaming Socials and the MCAA Tech Club.
Fall 2009
The collaborative effort will kick off in October with a return of the very popular and successful Gaming Social. MCAA 5th grade gifted students and their parents are invited to the Game Development Lab at SPSU to see enhancements to Ocean Quest. Students can play the game and provide valuable feedback to the SPSU game developers. Also MCAA students and their parents have the opportunity see the SPSU commitment to the new Game Development Degree program and to computer software development in general.
Following the Social, SPSU game developers will incorporate MCAA student feedback and “fine tune” Ocean Quest for installation on the MCAA laptops. The MCAA students will use the game in their Oceanography curriculum this fall.
Continued MCAA student involvement in Ocean Quest will continue through the Tech Club in which 3rd-5th grade members will provide mission concepts and make recommendations for addition simulations. Tech Matters will work with the students in this area.
Also this fall, SPSU and MCAA will begin design and development of an Economics Game. Using the experience from last year, SPSU game development students will design an educational game to facilitate the learning of marketing and cost analysis. These are two difficult concepts for students at this age to grasp.
Spring 2010
The Economics game will roll out for the MCAA 5th grade gifted students to use in the Economics section of the Spring Semester.
Tech Matters Offers Expanded Learning Opportunities:
The hallmark of collaborative projects is communication. 21st Century Web 2.0 skills are communication skills. To get the most benefit from this project, faculty and students have the opportunity to “Learn While Doing” using accessible, universal Web 2.0 tools such as:
- Google Sites - common custom web sites which can be limited to project participants where all members can collaborate. (Similar to a wiki).
- Blogs – A free custom web site where the project team can chronicle their work to share what issues arise and how problems are solved.
- Email - direct communication. Using authentic tools under the guidance of teachers the SST develop teamwork, collaboration, leadership, and communication skills. SPSU programmers not only develop teamwork, collaboration, leadership and communication skills, but also, the much needed soft skills working with clients, project planning, and time management skills.
We are hoping to use more of these tools this year, now that we have the collaboration process better defined.