New Alliance To Research Gaming in Math and Science Education

##AUTHORSPLIT##<--->

Video games have always had and probably will always have their detractors. But there's a growing movement in academia and industry recognizing the value of this medium as an educational tool both inside and outside the classroom. This week, eight colleges and universities added their inertia to this movement, joining with Microsoft to launch a new alliance to study the benefits of gaming for math and science instruction and STEM equity.

The consortium, dubbed the "Games for Learning Institute," is being led by New York University and includes Columbia University, City University of New York (CUNY), Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Teachers College. These members are matching an investment from Microsoft Research of $1.5 million to provide a total of $3 million in funding for the effort.

This is not the first project to study the value of gaming in science and math education. In fact, just last month the United States Department of Education itself awarded a grant of $9.2 million to the Education Development Center, a non-profit education research organization, to study how video games can be used in middle school science instruction in the classroom. But the Games for Learning Institute is different from other recent research initiatives in that it's focused particularly on identifying which aspects of video games most engage students and on developing "relevant, personalized teaching strategies that can be applied to the learning process" based on the findings.

"While educational games are commonplace, little is known about how, why or even if they are effective," said John Nordlinger, senior research manager for Microsoft Research's gaming efforts, in a statement released Tuesday. "Microsoft Research, together with NYU and the consortium of academic partners, will address these questions from a multidisciplinary angle, exploring what makes certain games compelling and playable and what elements make them effective, providing critically important information to researchers, game developers and educators to support a new era of using games for educational purposes."

The research efforts of the consortium will focus on middle school STEM subjects and how video games might be used as learning tools. According to information released today, the research will involve a wide range of student populations but will pay particular attention to females and minority populations. DoE statistics and recent research show that females and some minority students are underrepresented in both the percentage of undergraduate STEM degrees received and the percentage of positions in STEM careers held. (For example, women account for less than 20 percent of all engineering degree recipients at every level, though on the whole women receive about 60 percent of all degrees awarded by colleges and universities in the United States. (See "Women Lose Ground in IT, Computer Science" and "Report: STEM Gap Widens for Underrepresented Minorities" for further information and references. Some DoE statistics covering females in STEM majors can be downloaded in PDF format from the National Science Foundation's site here.)

A Sampling of Males Versus Females Receiving Undergraduate STEM Degrees

STEM Subject Males Females
Engineering (Aerospace, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Industrial, Materials, Mechanical, and others) 52,936 13,197
Computer Science 39,329 11,235
Physical Sciences (Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, and others) 8,610 6,420
Mathematics and Statistics 8,215 6,625
Psychology 19,103 66,833
Source: Department of Education, statistics for 2005, compiled by the National Science Foundation

 

"Middle school is a critical stage for students, a time when many are introduced to advanced math and science concepts," said Ken Perlin, professor of computer science in NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and founding director of the Media Research Laboratory at NYU, in a statement released Tuesday. "Many students become discouraged or uninterested and pour their time at home into gaming. Ironically, we think gaming is our starting point to draw them into math, science and technology-based programs."

Perlin will direct the Games for Learning Institute, which will be housed at NYU. NYU Associate Professor Jan Plass will co-direct the institute. Plass teaches educational communication and technology at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Both NYU and Microsoft have engaged in educational gaming research in the past. Microsoft has put some $3 million toward educational gaming research and development through its Gaming Initiative since 2004. And NYU has embarked on several research projects in the past studying the impact of digital media on student learning. (Information on some past projects can be found here.)

"Technology has the potential to help reinvent the education process, and excite and inspire young learners to embrace science, math and technology," said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft, speaking to faculty and students at NYU Tuesday. "The Games for Learning Institute at NYU is a great example of how technology can change how students learn, making it far more natural and intuitive."

We'll bring you further information about the initiative as it becomes available.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


Featured

  • computer with a red warning icon on its screen, surrounded by digital grids, glowing neural network patterns, and a holographic brain

    Report Highlights Security Concerns of Open Source AI

    In these days of rampant ransomware and other cybersecurity exploits, security is paramount to both proprietary and open source AI approaches — and here the open source movement might be susceptible to some inherent drawbacks, such as use of possibly insecure code from unknown sources.

  • Discovery Education resources

    Discovery Education Initiative Offers Free Environmental-Focused Learning Resources

    Discovery Education has introduced a new collection of free digital learning materials focused on environmental studies.

  • pattern of glowing blue and green orbs connected by thin luminous lines

    Microsoft Copilot Gains Actions Feature, New Agents in Latest Update

    Microsoft has introduced new and enhanced features for Microsoft 365 Copilot, including Copilot Actions, new AI "agents," and a Copilot Control System.

  • landscape photo with an AI rubber stamp on top

    California AI Watermarking Bill Supported by OpenAI

    OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, is backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content in the form of a digital "watermark." The proposed legislation, known as the "California Digital Content Provenance Standards" (AB 3211), aims to ensure transparency in digital media by identifying content created through artificial intelligence. This requirement would apply to a broad range of AI-generated material, from harmless memes to deepfakes that could be used to spread misinformation about political candidates.