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A new project brings together undergraduate and graduate students with researchers from the IU School of ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵand Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering in a collaborative effort to create educational game-based learning tools for middle school students.

Wendy Walter, Associate Director of the Center for Research on Learning and Technology and Assistant Research Scientist, is the principal investigator of the project. Through a Layered Learning Grant from IU, the project will provide a tiered layered-learning model for undergraduate research.

“We wanted to create a collaborative project where we brought together teacher education majors and computer engineering majors to research how or if they could collaborate on a game-based learning tool,” Walter explained. “The game will be developed according to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, which describe an all-learner approach to the design and delivery of instruction and instructional materials, and the Engineering Design Process (EDP), an iterative approach to solving real-world problems.”

Walter’s co-PIs on the project are Kelli Paul, Assistant Research Scientist at the School of ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵand , senior lecturer at Luddy, with science education Ph.D. student Spencer Perry as a graduate student assistant.

The project is currently in a planning and storyboarding stage to figure out what content to pull from the Indiana standards for seventh grade science related to energy, with the team focused on thermal energy and how it transfers, the forces involved, and its conservation. The group has been in communication with their teacher client to get an idea of what her goals are for her class in relation to this project, since the end product would be used in her classroom. Lillian LaTour is one of the undergraduate students involved in the project. She is using her experience and knowledge as an education major to collaborate with Independent Systems Engineering students. 

“I've been very glad for this opportunity to collaborate with students in a field of study that I wouldn't usually get to interact with otherwise, since I have no experience in computer science or informatics. I'm also having to exercise my scientific knowledge for the content of this game, since my major's concentration area is social studies. Overall, it's been a great way to learn more about different subjects and how to integrate science and technology into the classroom,” LaTour said.

Student Katelin Dollins said it’s been important for the team to make sure that the game is aligning with state standards—and that the game is student friendly. 

“I feel like I am learning more communication skills with the members and the teacher I am working with. I have been learning more outside the box for ways I can make lessons more fun and engaging for my students. I have been learning more to push myself to look and learn at the other side of things with this project,” Dollins added.

Special education major Sydney Jackier said she gives a school/educator perspective on the games. Jackier was able to go into the classroom of the teacher client and survey the kids to see what they like and dislike in games. Before being involved in this project, Jackier said she knew little to nothing about technology.

“It has been really beneficial for me … Being able to work with people and meet people who have a different major and skill set from me is very interesting,” she said, adding, “I’m able to provide opinions through an educational lens while also learning about the inner workings of things like storyboards, business models, and video game design. I wouldn’t have had a chance to do anything like this before.”

Ultimately, Walter hopes the project creates less siloed learning and more collaboration between areas of study and research across IU.

“Designers understand design, but they don't necessarily understand learning. The educators understand student learning, but they don't know game design. Through this collaborative process, computer engineering students will gain experience connecting with and creating content for a teacher client while teacher education students will enhance their professional development by working with education technology which will prepare them for future evaluations, considerations, and implementations of technology in their classrooms,” Walter said.