historical inquiry game aera 2009
TRANSCRIPT
Exploring the potential of a place-basedAugmented Reality (AR) game to support historical inquiry
James MathewsUniversity of Wisconsin
Local Games LabGames, Learning, and Society Research Group
Augmented Reality Games - The Basics
Played on a PDA/handheld computer or smart phonethat is equippedwith a GPS unit.
The “Game Space”
The games are playedin the physical environment.
The GPS tracks yourlocation as you explorethe “game space.”
Location Sensitive Content
What do AR games borrow from video games?
Role-playing / Differentiated Roles
Narrative Hook / Backstory
Problem Space / Master Goal / Sub-Tasks
Multi-modal Content
Collaboration / Competition
Contested Spaces
(Squire, 2004; Gee, 2003; Shaffer, 2006; Dickey, 2005)
Current Study: How might AR games be used to build students’ capacity to think empathetically?
Dow Day October 18, 1967
A Place-based AR Game
Game Context - “Contested Space”
Dow Chemical Company makes napalm
Dow Chemical plans to recruit students on the UW-Madison campus
Some students plan protests aimed at blocking the interviews…
The Mission
“Things are heating up on Bascom Hill and we need a story, and some photos by 3:00. Get up there and check things out.”
“I set up an appointment with an administrator from the UW and a representative from Dow Chemical. They will meet you in front of Bascom Hall. Make sure that you meet them on time.”
“Got all that? You better hurry…””
You are a reporter working for the Capital Times.
Your editor just called and told you to meet him at the Memorial Union. He has an important story for you to cover.
He has arranged for a photographer to help you cover the story.
The Editor
Game Play
As students play the games they use the PDA to…
Explore the physical environment
Meet and interview virtual characters
View photos and video clips
Gather and read primary documents
Take on roles + collaborate with other players
Game-based Learning (Gee, 2003; Squire, 2007; Shaffer, 2006)
Historical Empathy / Perspective Taking
* Conceptualizing (Barton & Levstik, 2004; Davis, Yeager, & Foster, 2001)
* Designing for (Portal, 1998; Foster, 2001; Foster & Yeager, 1998)
* Assessing (Downey, 1995; Kohlmeier, 2006; Jensen, 2008)
Design / Theoretical Framework(s)
Historical Empathy
Game-based Learning
Intervention: 10-Day Game-based Curriculum
Phase Activities Sample:
1. Pre-game Generate initial inquiry question(s)Background / Context
Start inquiry journalIntroduce heuristics (corroboration, sourcing, contextualizing)
2. Game Enter roles“Situate” experienceIntroduce complexities
“Simulate” eventInvestigate in “real time” Explore multiple perspective
3. Build on game experience
React Revisit inquiry questions
Review game text and documentsSelect and interpret new evidencePractice heuristics
4. Synthesize Reconstruction / Narrative
Write newspaper articleChoose photos to run with your story
5. Game design session
Critique / “re-design” Analyze bias and propose additional perspectives, experiences, + resources
* 9 High School Students (2 Girls, 7 Boys)
* 7 failed at least one semester of U.S. History
* Reluctant readers in school-based context
* Limited background using document-based learning
* Limited contextual understanding
Participants
Data & Analysis
What did I look at?
* Artifacts that students created (journal, historical analysis sheets, news article)* Pre- and post-historical inquiry tasks* Pre- and post-surveys * Interviews* Classroom observations
What did I look for?
* Recognize that the past is different from the present* Understand the context under which the historical events took place* Recognize that there are various perspectives from the past* Use historical evidence when making argument* Recognize their own positionality and how it shapes their interpretation (Downey, 1995; Kohlmeier, 2006; Jensen, 2008)
1. Increased student motivation to complete pre- and post-game reading, writing, and historical interpretation / analysis activities
2. Students identified (with increasing complexity) the multiple perspectives surrounding the events.
3. Students “cared about” the events/actors, which increased engagement, but interfered with historical empathy
4. Playing a site-based simulation impacted the types of questions students asked --> The place became a source of evidence.
5. Students struggled to think of the past as different
Results
5. Provided a space for “unpacking” the values at play
6. Newspaper article helped students move away from their own positionality and focused them on the use of evidence
7. Students developed a more nuanced understanding of photographic evidence as a “construction of reality”
8. Growth in students’ ability to use heuristics to interpret historical documents
Results
Future Work?
1) Next iteration of Dow Day
2) Students (and teachers) designing AR games
3) AR games as assessment tools
Augmented Reality
Curriculum Overview
Played as part of a 10 day curriculum
Role play as a journalist
Investigate the event in “real time”
Develop basic news reporting skills
Explore point of view and bias in news reporting
Augmented Reality Gaming on Handhelds, 1st year ReportNovember 29, 2006
Lake Wingra(Madison)
Mad City Mystery(Madison)
South Shore Beach
(Milwaukee)
Greenbush(Madison)
Hip Hop Tycoon
Place specific Place agnostic
Urban EcologyCenter
(Milwaukee)
Dow Day
Mystery Trip
Summer:TeacherWorkshops
Fall:implementations
Curriculum design
Winter:Redesign
Spring:Implementations
Project Refinement
STAR Schools Grant• 3 years• 30 teachers in Madison, Milwaukee, Boston• Improving mathematics and literacy skills
A Sample Encounter
• Place-based historical simulation
• Inquiry-based model
• Engages students in “historical thinking”(Wineburg,VanSledright)
Interpreting primary and secondary resources
Identifying and analyzing multiple perspectives surrounding an historical event
Gathering evidence and developing historical arguments
Design Principles
• Played as part of a larger curricular unit
Sample Encounter
Description: You feel a buzzing in your backpack. You take out your Communicator, and tune in. It's John Martin. His face is scratched and bloody, battered and bruised.
Interview: Whoa! I didn't think I'd get you! This Communicator is whacked pretty badly. Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Well, it says it's transmitting, so if you can hear me, listen up. I'm not sure what's going on, but don't come back to camp! And stay low! After you left, camp was overrun by men in green tights. We tried to fend them off. There were five of them on Noah at one time, and Addie took out eight or so, but the sheer numbers overcame us.
I'm not sure why they attacked. Head up Great Pond Mountain and I'll try to communicate with you there. Stay out of sight, and off the open faces -- and don't take the main trails; I think they're monitoring them.
Go! and be careful!
John
From “Mitchville:
Where the War Began”
Presentations should represent on the average a 7-10 minute summary of the paper. Highlights may be given covering such points as the purpose of the study, description of the sample, methodology, problems, and major findings, conclusions, or recommendations. The amount of time devoted to each highlight will vary according to the author’s evaluation of the importance of each area to the paper.
Moving towards place specific games
xmlGame Editor (xml generator)
Moving towards teacher and student designed games