Science Council 2012 Video Gaming and Science

Dr. Bob RitterMike Somkuti

How is it possible that energetic highly-intelligent young people sleepwalk on the job or in class?

Are students less able?

•”When I was a student, we were better at spelling, writing and math.”

•With the possible exception of spelling this is not true.

•Curricula is becoming increasing complex.•Students are not the same and curriculum

demands have increased.

Are people really getting smarter?

IQ scores have increased 0.3 points a year - or 3 full points per decade. The study, conducted with over 30 years of data by James R Flynn, University of Ortago, New Zealand.

Folger, Tim, Can We Keep Getting Smarter, Scientific American, September 2012, vol 307, Number 3, page 44.

I am a 21 st Century Learner

•I will spent 16.5-h watching TV this week.•I will spent 5.5-h on my computer this week.•I game 3.5-h per week.•I spent 2-h reading a book this week.•I listened to Harry Potter on my I-Pad for 5-h

this week.

I will

•Read 8 books this year.

•Write 42 pages of notes for classes this semester.

•Spend 5 to 6-h in class each day.

•Work 2-h day.

Sleep 2-h less than my parents did each day

•Read 2300 webpages, 1281

Facebook profiles•Write over 500 pages of

email this semester.•Spend 3.5-h a day online.• Listen to music 2.5-h a

day, and spend 2-h on my cellphone.

More than just playing Angry Bird and Smurf Village

8 Norms of 21st Century Learners/Employees

1.They need to be actively engaged. This includes school and their job.2.Value collaboration above passive learning.3.A desire to personalize and customize everything they own.4.Value choice5.Demand enjoyment at work and school.6.More likely to research and critique organizations and individuals.7.Speed is normal, with little patience for turn-around time.8.Will have challenges in developing their professional identity.

Don Tapscott, 2009. Grown-Up Digital, McGraw Hill, Toronto

Teaching Strategies

The Pew Research Centre Report

•97% of teen respondents play video games (99% boys, 94%

girls);•53% of adults age 18 and older play video games, about one in

five adults (21%) play everyday or almost everyday;•Younger adults 18-29 years, 81% are more likely than older adults

to play games, while only 23% of respondents 65 years old and older report playing games.

•Average age?•57% of respondents with at least some college education play

games, significantly more than high school graduates (51%) and those who have less than a high school education (40%);

Computational Thinking

Making sense of data and drawing inferences

• Identifying variables and limitations

• Making "cause" and "effect" connections in a multivariable world.

Computational thinking is the thought processes involved in formulating problems and their solutions so that the solutions are represented in a form that can be effectively carried out by an information-processing agent. [CunySnyderWing10]

Jeanett Wing: Computational Thinking What and Why?

Carniege Mellon University

Social studies context

Projects

• war of 1812

• Underground railway

• Fur trade

• History as reconstructed logic

• Lyall Ferguson – Civilization

• Science as reconstructed logic

• New paradigm – quantum mechanics

21st Century School•Wireless learning environment•Smartboards in every learning space•One-to-one laptops Grade 2-8

Introducing the Class to Kodu

• Learned in CTS

• Created Pong or Pac Man

• Created our own games

• Finished with an Arcade day

The Project

Students had to create an amusement park or museum that was full of rides that represented 5 of the curricular outcomes from our Heat and Temperature unit.

The Project

Students had to create an amusement park or museum that was full of rides that represented 5 of the curricular outcomes from our Heat and Temperature unit.

Build Day

Dedicated one full day to building

High student engagement

The power of Kodu's limitations

Collaborative learning environment

Struggling students can become classroom leaders

Students realizes that they have stills they never realized

Conclusions

Creative 21 century tools give students the freedom to demonstrate their learning in whatever way they choose

Students are already using many of these tools at home

The creative and critical thinking skills developed in the project were worth the time it took to learn

The 21st Century competencies developed in using programs like this will help our students succeed in the future