Andrea Gauthier | University College London (original) (raw)
Papers by Andrea Gauthier
International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction
British Journal of Educational Technology
Digital literacy games can be beneficial for children with reading difficulties as a supplement t... more Digital literacy games can be beneficial for children with reading difficulties as a supplement to classroom instruction and an important feature of these games are the instructional supports, such as feedback. To be effective, feedback needs to build on prior instruction and match a learner's level of prior knowledge. However, there is limited research around the relationship between prior knowledge, instruction and feedback in the context of learning games. This paper presents an empirical study exploring the influence of prior knowledge on response to feedback, in two conditions: with or without instruction. Thirty‐six primary children (age 8–11) with reading difficulties participated: each child was assessed for their prior knowledge of two suffix types—noun and adjective suffixes. They subsequently received additional instruction for one suffix type and then played two rounds of a literacy game—one round for each suffix type. Our analysis shows that prior knowledge predicte...
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2022
International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
Data-driven technologies for education, such as artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) syste... more Data-driven technologies for education, such as artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) systems, learning analytics dashboards, open learner models, and other applications, are often created with an aspiration to help teachers make better, evidence-informed decisions in the classroom. Addressing gender, racial, and other biases inherent to data and algorithms in such applications is seen as a way to increase the responsibility of these systems and has been the focus of much of the research in the field, including systematic reviews. However, implicit biases can also be held by teachers. To the best of our knowledge, this systematic literature review is the first of its kind to investigate what kinds of teacher biases have been impacted by data-driven technologies, how or if these technologies were designed to challenge these biases, and which strategies were most effective at promoting equitable teaching behaviors and decision making. Following PRISMA guidelines, a search of fiv...
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Outcome and elaborative feedback in games can scaffold learners to recognise errors and apply cor... more Outcome and elaborative feedback in games can scaffold learners to recognise errors and apply corrective strategies. However, there is little evidence that indicates how children process such feedback. Using an active intervention approach, this study empirically evaluated how three groups of primary-aged children with different profiles-novice readers, children with reading difficulties, and children learning English as a foreign language-attended to, understood, and acted upon feedback within a digital literacy game. Children's gameplay and verbalisations across groups were compared through systematic video analysis. Our findings demonstrate that all readers benefited from visual, non-verbal outcome feedback, which supported accurate interpretations of their performance, but groups attended to it differentially. Older children noticed auditory, verbal elaborative feedback more than novice readers, but all children struggled to understand it, instead relying on implicit knowledge to correct future responses. We conclude by highlighting several contributions to games-based learning research, game design, and pedagogical practice.
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2022
The human–computer interaction (HCI) design of educational technologies influences cognitive beha... more The human–computer interaction (HCI) design of educational technologies influences cognitive behaviour, so it is imperative to assess how different HCI strategies support intended behaviour. We developed a neuroscience-inspired game that trains children's use of “stopping-and-thinking” (S&T)—an inhibitory control-related behaviour—in the context of counterintuitive science problems. We tested the efficacy of four HCI features in supporting S&T: (1) a readiness mechanic, (2) motion cues, (3) colour cues, and (4) rewards/penalties. In a randomised eye-tracking trial with 45 7-to-8-year-olds, we found that the readiness mechanic increased S&T duration, that motion and colour cues proved equally effective at promoting S&T, that combining symbolic colour with the readiness mechanic may have a cumulative effect, and that rewards/penalties may have distracted children from S&T. Additionally, S&T duration was related to in-game performance. Our results underscore the importance of inter...
Throughout their undergraduate careers, biology students struggle to reconcile how randomness at ... more Throughout their undergraduate careers, biology students struggle to reconcile how randomness at the molecular level governs cellular systems, often misconceiving these emergent systems as mechanistic in nature. A serious game has potential to facilitate conceptual change by enabling instances of productive negativity—a player may attempt a challenge and fail under their current misconception, and then must reevaluate their understanding in order to succeed. We designed a serious game, MolWorlds, under this premise and tested its efficiency against an interactive simulation that used the same graphics and simulation system as the game but lacked gaming elements such as score, sequential levelling structure, resource management, and a 3-person character immersed in the environment. We tested first-, second-, and third-year biology students’ misconceptions at the beginning and end of the semester (n=526), a subset of whom played either the game (n=20) or control (n=20) for 30 minutes ...
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2020
Since the early 1960’s, educational researchers have shown that integrating game design into educ... more Since the early 1960’s, educational researchers have shown that integrating game design into education can have a positive impact on students’ interest and engagement in school and studying (Randel et al. 1992). Engagement in an educational game activates dopamine reward pathways in the brain and, as a result, students are more likely to take on more difficult subject matter during game-play than during regular academic work (Howard-Jones and Demetriou 2009). In many cases, introducing games into a curriculum has enhanced learner engagement throughout the academic term, leading to more frequent studying and better exam performance (Charsky and Ressler 2011; Kanthan and Senger 2011; Massey and Brown 2005; McCarroll et al. 2009; Wirth and Breiner 1997).Specifically, video games in education cater to the current generation of individuals who, on average, spend 10,000 hours playing video games by the age of 21 (McGonigal 2011). Gamification is the process of integrating game design elem...
CBE—Life Sciences Education, 2019
This paper discusses the results of two experiments assessing undergraduate students’ beliefs abo... more This paper discusses the results of two experiments assessing undergraduate students’ beliefs about the random nature of molecular environments. Experiment 1 involved the implementation of a pilot adaptive assessment ( n = 773) and focus group discussions with undergraduate students enrolled in first- through third-year biology courses; experiment 2 involved the distribution of the redesigned adaptive assessment to the same population of students in three consecutive years ( n = 1170). The overarching goal of the study was to provide a detailed characterization of learners’ perceptions and beliefs regarding molecular agency, environments, and diffusion and whether or not those beliefs change over time. Our results indicated that advanced learners hold as many misconceptions as novice learners and that confidence in their misconceptions increases as they advance through their undergraduate education. In particular, students’ understanding of random/Brownian motion is complex and high...
BACKGROUND There is a worldwide shortage of health workers, requiring innovative education soluti... more BACKGROUND There is a worldwide shortage of health workers, requiring innovative education solutions. Serious gaming and gamification education has the potential to provide a quality, cost-effective, novel approach, which is flexible, portable, enjoyable, and allows interaction with tutors and peers. OBJECTIVE The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of serious gaming/gamification for health professions education compared with traditional learning, other types of digital education , or other serious gaming/gamification interventions, in terms of patient outcomes, knowledge, skills, professional attitudes and satisfaction (primary outcomes) and education economics outcomes and adverse events (secondary outcomes). METHODS A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, Educational Resources Information Centre, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO and CINAHL from 1990 to August 2017 was conducted. Randomized controlled trials ...
Games for health journal, Jan 25, 2018
Nondigital board games are being used to engage players and impact outcomes in health and medicin... more Nondigital board games are being used to engage players and impact outcomes in health and medicine across diverse populations and contexts. This systematic review and meta-analysis describes and summarizes their impact based on randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials. An electronic search resulted in a review of n = 21 eligible studies. Sample sizes ranged from n = 17 to n = 3110 (n = 6554 total participants). A majority of the board game interventions focused on education to increase health-related knowledge and behaviors (76%, n = 16). Outcomes evaluated included self-efficacy, attitudes/beliefs, biological health indicators, social functioning, anxiety, and executive functioning, in addition to knowledge and behaviors. Using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for assessing bias, most studies (52%, n = 11) had an unclear risk of bias (33% [n = 7] had a high risk and 14% [n = 3] had a low risk). Statistical tests of publication bias were not significant. A random-effects meta-a...
International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 2017
We designed a serious game, MolWorlds, to facilitate conceptual change about molecular emergence ... more We designed a serious game, MolWorlds, to facilitate conceptual change about molecular emergence by using game mechanics (resource management, immersed 3rd person character, sequential level progression, and 3-star scoring system) to encourage cycles of productive negativity. We tested the value-added effect of game design by comparing and correlating pre- and post-test misconceptions, interaction statistics, and engagement in the game with an interactive simulation that used the same graphics and simulation system but lacked gaming elements. We tested first-, second-, and third-year biology students' misconceptions at the beginning and end of the semester (n = 526), a subset of whom played either the game (n = 20) or control (n = 20) for 30 minutes prior to the post-test. A 3x3 mixed model ANOVA revealed that, while educational level (first-, second-, or third-year biology) did not influence misconceptions from pre-test to post-test, the intervention type (no intervention, simu...
2016 8th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-GAMES), 2016
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for scientific research but pose many o... more Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for scientific research but pose many obstacles for game-based learning (GBL) studies. This poster is intended to foster a discussion about RCTs by summarizing two recent trials performed by the authors and comparing the distinctly different protocols including length of stimulus exposure, levels of internal and external validity, and sample size considerations. Finally, a proposed protocol for a third RCT is presented that attempts to reconcile the pros and cons from the previously described studies, while maintaining rigour in the research - the authors seek feedback from conference attendees as to the protocol's viability.
Computers & Education, 2015
Computers & Education, 2018
Design, rather than medium, ultimately predicts learning outcomes, but the game-based learning li... more Design, rather than medium, ultimately predicts learning outcomes, but the game-based learning literature has had difficulty successfully linking game design decisions to learning behaviours and outcomes. The current research investigates how explicit game design strategies can promote productive negativity (i.e. learning from failure), which has been identified as an important mechanism in both gaming and learning. We performed a randomized controlled trial with undergraduate biology students to investigate how game design might facilitate misconception resolution about random molecular behaviour through productive negativity. Students engaged with either a computer-based interactive simulation (n=20) or serious game (n=20) for 30 minutes, while their computer screens were recorded and click-stream data collected. We described in detail the theoretical framework underpinning our serious game and simulation using the Activity Theory Model of Serious Games (ATMSG); qualitatively coded and analysed video recordings of gameplay; and visually overlaid this data with the ATMSG models to draw conclusions about how game-design decisions influence learning-related behaviours. We found that the serious game resulted in significantly more productively negative experiences, while the interactive simulation allowed for greater exploratory or experimental behaviours. Based on our analyses of the qualitative gameplay data, we were able to recommend three game design strategies to enhance the occurrence of desired game-flow loops (e.g. productive negativity) with respect to an ATMSG framework: 1) including additional game mechanics on the primary game-flow axis of the ATMSG framework (i.e. mandatory interactions) limits the exploratory nature of the application; 2) integrating two or more primary-axis mechanics in a game-flow loop increases the frequency of interaction with this loop; and 3) gameplay loops that involve mechanics that fall off the primary-axis (i.e. nonmandatory mechanics) occur less frequently than those which involve primary-axis (i.e. mandatory) mechanics. This study is one of the first to successfully make direct comparisons between students' interactions in a game and a non-game application to provide concrete and actionable serious game design recommendations.
International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction
British Journal of Educational Technology
Digital literacy games can be beneficial for children with reading difficulties as a supplement t... more Digital literacy games can be beneficial for children with reading difficulties as a supplement to classroom instruction and an important feature of these games are the instructional supports, such as feedback. To be effective, feedback needs to build on prior instruction and match a learner's level of prior knowledge. However, there is limited research around the relationship between prior knowledge, instruction and feedback in the context of learning games. This paper presents an empirical study exploring the influence of prior knowledge on response to feedback, in two conditions: with or without instruction. Thirty‐six primary children (age 8–11) with reading difficulties participated: each child was assessed for their prior knowledge of two suffix types—noun and adjective suffixes. They subsequently received additional instruction for one suffix type and then played two rounds of a literacy game—one round for each suffix type. Our analysis shows that prior knowledge predicte...
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2022
International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence
Data-driven technologies for education, such as artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) syste... more Data-driven technologies for education, such as artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) systems, learning analytics dashboards, open learner models, and other applications, are often created with an aspiration to help teachers make better, evidence-informed decisions in the classroom. Addressing gender, racial, and other biases inherent to data and algorithms in such applications is seen as a way to increase the responsibility of these systems and has been the focus of much of the research in the field, including systematic reviews. However, implicit biases can also be held by teachers. To the best of our knowledge, this systematic literature review is the first of its kind to investigate what kinds of teacher biases have been impacted by data-driven technologies, how or if these technologies were designed to challenge these biases, and which strategies were most effective at promoting equitable teaching behaviors and decision making. Following PRISMA guidelines, a search of fiv...
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Outcome and elaborative feedback in games can scaffold learners to recognise errors and apply cor... more Outcome and elaborative feedback in games can scaffold learners to recognise errors and apply corrective strategies. However, there is little evidence that indicates how children process such feedback. Using an active intervention approach, this study empirically evaluated how three groups of primary-aged children with different profiles-novice readers, children with reading difficulties, and children learning English as a foreign language-attended to, understood, and acted upon feedback within a digital literacy game. Children's gameplay and verbalisations across groups were compared through systematic video analysis. Our findings demonstrate that all readers benefited from visual, non-verbal outcome feedback, which supported accurate interpretations of their performance, but groups attended to it differentially. Older children noticed auditory, verbal elaborative feedback more than novice readers, but all children struggled to understand it, instead relying on implicit knowledge to correct future responses. We conclude by highlighting several contributions to games-based learning research, game design, and pedagogical practice.
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2022
The human–computer interaction (HCI) design of educational technologies influences cognitive beha... more The human–computer interaction (HCI) design of educational technologies influences cognitive behaviour, so it is imperative to assess how different HCI strategies support intended behaviour. We developed a neuroscience-inspired game that trains children's use of “stopping-and-thinking” (S&T)—an inhibitory control-related behaviour—in the context of counterintuitive science problems. We tested the efficacy of four HCI features in supporting S&T: (1) a readiness mechanic, (2) motion cues, (3) colour cues, and (4) rewards/penalties. In a randomised eye-tracking trial with 45 7-to-8-year-olds, we found that the readiness mechanic increased S&T duration, that motion and colour cues proved equally effective at promoting S&T, that combining symbolic colour with the readiness mechanic may have a cumulative effect, and that rewards/penalties may have distracted children from S&T. Additionally, S&T duration was related to in-game performance. Our results underscore the importance of inter...
Throughout their undergraduate careers, biology students struggle to reconcile how randomness at ... more Throughout their undergraduate careers, biology students struggle to reconcile how randomness at the molecular level governs cellular systems, often misconceiving these emergent systems as mechanistic in nature. A serious game has potential to facilitate conceptual change by enabling instances of productive negativity—a player may attempt a challenge and fail under their current misconception, and then must reevaluate their understanding in order to succeed. We designed a serious game, MolWorlds, under this premise and tested its efficiency against an interactive simulation that used the same graphics and simulation system as the game but lacked gaming elements such as score, sequential levelling structure, resource management, and a 3-person character immersed in the environment. We tested first-, second-, and third-year biology students’ misconceptions at the beginning and end of the semester (n=526), a subset of whom played either the game (n=20) or control (n=20) for 30 minutes ...
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2020
Since the early 1960’s, educational researchers have shown that integrating game design into educ... more Since the early 1960’s, educational researchers have shown that integrating game design into education can have a positive impact on students’ interest and engagement in school and studying (Randel et al. 1992). Engagement in an educational game activates dopamine reward pathways in the brain and, as a result, students are more likely to take on more difficult subject matter during game-play than during regular academic work (Howard-Jones and Demetriou 2009). In many cases, introducing games into a curriculum has enhanced learner engagement throughout the academic term, leading to more frequent studying and better exam performance (Charsky and Ressler 2011; Kanthan and Senger 2011; Massey and Brown 2005; McCarroll et al. 2009; Wirth and Breiner 1997).Specifically, video games in education cater to the current generation of individuals who, on average, spend 10,000 hours playing video games by the age of 21 (McGonigal 2011). Gamification is the process of integrating game design elem...
CBE—Life Sciences Education, 2019
This paper discusses the results of two experiments assessing undergraduate students’ beliefs abo... more This paper discusses the results of two experiments assessing undergraduate students’ beliefs about the random nature of molecular environments. Experiment 1 involved the implementation of a pilot adaptive assessment ( n = 773) and focus group discussions with undergraduate students enrolled in first- through third-year biology courses; experiment 2 involved the distribution of the redesigned adaptive assessment to the same population of students in three consecutive years ( n = 1170). The overarching goal of the study was to provide a detailed characterization of learners’ perceptions and beliefs regarding molecular agency, environments, and diffusion and whether or not those beliefs change over time. Our results indicated that advanced learners hold as many misconceptions as novice learners and that confidence in their misconceptions increases as they advance through their undergraduate education. In particular, students’ understanding of random/Brownian motion is complex and high...
BACKGROUND There is a worldwide shortage of health workers, requiring innovative education soluti... more BACKGROUND There is a worldwide shortage of health workers, requiring innovative education solutions. Serious gaming and gamification education has the potential to provide a quality, cost-effective, novel approach, which is flexible, portable, enjoyable, and allows interaction with tutors and peers. OBJECTIVE The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of serious gaming/gamification for health professions education compared with traditional learning, other types of digital education , or other serious gaming/gamification interventions, in terms of patient outcomes, knowledge, skills, professional attitudes and satisfaction (primary outcomes) and education economics outcomes and adverse events (secondary outcomes). METHODS A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, Educational Resources Information Centre, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO and CINAHL from 1990 to August 2017 was conducted. Randomized controlled trials ...
Games for health journal, Jan 25, 2018
Nondigital board games are being used to engage players and impact outcomes in health and medicin... more Nondigital board games are being used to engage players and impact outcomes in health and medicine across diverse populations and contexts. This systematic review and meta-analysis describes and summarizes their impact based on randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials. An electronic search resulted in a review of n = 21 eligible studies. Sample sizes ranged from n = 17 to n = 3110 (n = 6554 total participants). A majority of the board game interventions focused on education to increase health-related knowledge and behaviors (76%, n = 16). Outcomes evaluated included self-efficacy, attitudes/beliefs, biological health indicators, social functioning, anxiety, and executive functioning, in addition to knowledge and behaviors. Using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for assessing bias, most studies (52%, n = 11) had an unclear risk of bias (33% [n = 7] had a high risk and 14% [n = 3] had a low risk). Statistical tests of publication bias were not significant. A random-effects meta-a...
International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 2017
We designed a serious game, MolWorlds, to facilitate conceptual change about molecular emergence ... more We designed a serious game, MolWorlds, to facilitate conceptual change about molecular emergence by using game mechanics (resource management, immersed 3rd person character, sequential level progression, and 3-star scoring system) to encourage cycles of productive negativity. We tested the value-added effect of game design by comparing and correlating pre- and post-test misconceptions, interaction statistics, and engagement in the game with an interactive simulation that used the same graphics and simulation system but lacked gaming elements. We tested first-, second-, and third-year biology students' misconceptions at the beginning and end of the semester (n = 526), a subset of whom played either the game (n = 20) or control (n = 20) for 30 minutes prior to the post-test. A 3x3 mixed model ANOVA revealed that, while educational level (first-, second-, or third-year biology) did not influence misconceptions from pre-test to post-test, the intervention type (no intervention, simu...
2016 8th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-GAMES), 2016
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for scientific research but pose many o... more Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for scientific research but pose many obstacles for game-based learning (GBL) studies. This poster is intended to foster a discussion about RCTs by summarizing two recent trials performed by the authors and comparing the distinctly different protocols including length of stimulus exposure, levels of internal and external validity, and sample size considerations. Finally, a proposed protocol for a third RCT is presented that attempts to reconcile the pros and cons from the previously described studies, while maintaining rigour in the research - the authors seek feedback from conference attendees as to the protocol's viability.
Computers & Education, 2015
Computers & Education, 2018
Design, rather than medium, ultimately predicts learning outcomes, but the game-based learning li... more Design, rather than medium, ultimately predicts learning outcomes, but the game-based learning literature has had difficulty successfully linking game design decisions to learning behaviours and outcomes. The current research investigates how explicit game design strategies can promote productive negativity (i.e. learning from failure), which has been identified as an important mechanism in both gaming and learning. We performed a randomized controlled trial with undergraduate biology students to investigate how game design might facilitate misconception resolution about random molecular behaviour through productive negativity. Students engaged with either a computer-based interactive simulation (n=20) or serious game (n=20) for 30 minutes, while their computer screens were recorded and click-stream data collected. We described in detail the theoretical framework underpinning our serious game and simulation using the Activity Theory Model of Serious Games (ATMSG); qualitatively coded and analysed video recordings of gameplay; and visually overlaid this data with the ATMSG models to draw conclusions about how game-design decisions influence learning-related behaviours. We found that the serious game resulted in significantly more productively negative experiences, while the interactive simulation allowed for greater exploratory or experimental behaviours. Based on our analyses of the qualitative gameplay data, we were able to recommend three game design strategies to enhance the occurrence of desired game-flow loops (e.g. productive negativity) with respect to an ATMSG framework: 1) including additional game mechanics on the primary game-flow axis of the ATMSG framework (i.e. mandatory interactions) limits the exploratory nature of the application; 2) integrating two or more primary-axis mechanics in a game-flow loop increases the frequency of interaction with this loop; and 3) gameplay loops that involve mechanics that fall off the primary-axis (i.e. nonmandatory mechanics) occur less frequently than those which involve primary-axis (i.e. mandatory) mechanics. This study is one of the first to successfully make direct comparisons between students' interactions in a game and a non-game application to provide concrete and actionable serious game design recommendations.
Undergraduate biology students lack an understanding of the emergent nature of molecular processe... more Undergraduate biology students lack an understanding of the emergent nature of molecular processes and systems and often think about molecular interactions in a teleological manner. A game has potential to transform students' misconceptions through immersion in an interactive environment and through challenges that encourage cycles of productive negativity. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the pedagogical effectiveness of the current game prototype, MolWolds, in facilitating conceptual change about molecular emergent systems and to document changes to be made to its design before further trials. Twenty-four first-(n=8), second-(n=9), and third-(n=7) year undergraduate biology students answered two short answer questions about vesicular formation before and after playing MolWorlds for 20 minutes. Answers were coded for emergent-themed statements on randomness, concentration, rate/probability, specificity, and crowdedness. It was found that second-and third-year players generated significantly more emergent statements (p=0.011; p=0.018) on the post-test, and first-years (novices to molecular biology) also generated more statements, though the result is only trending (p=0.111). This improvement may be due to engagement in cycles of productive negativity during gameplay: a significant proportion of players (20 out of 24; p=0.001) engaged in one or more cycles, though our small sample did not allow us to make comparisons between groups that did and did not experience this. Generated post-test statements were significantly correlated with gameplay efficiency ratios (p=0.039, r=0.424) and had a trending correlation with total game score (p=0.142, r=0.309), suggesting that gameplay performance might be used to predict conceptual understanding. This study was limited by our small sample size, rendering us unable to perform more robust analyses, such as multivariate regression models. Overall feedback for the game was positive and provided us with several leads for further development and improvement of the game mechanics. Future research will explore how learning through MolWorlds differs from learning through a similar non-game control application, how patterns of interactions and demographic characteristics are related to these learning outcomes, and how long-term concept retention is affected by gameplay.
Throughout their undergraduate careers, biology students struggle to reconcile how randomness at ... more Throughout their undergraduate careers, biology students struggle to reconcile how randomness at the molecular level governs cellular systems, often misconceiving these emergent systems as mechanistic in nature. A serious game has potential to facilitate conceptual change by enabling instances of productive negativity—a player may attempt a challenge and fail under their current misconception, and then must re-evaluate their understanding in order to succeed. We designed a serious game, MolWorlds, under this premise and tested its efficiency against an interactive simulation that used the same graphics and simulation system as the game but lacked gaming elements such as score, sequential levelling structure, resource management, and a 3 rd-person character immersed in the environment. We tested first-, second-, and third-year biology students' misconceptions at the beginning and end of the semester (n=526), a subset of whom played either the game (n=20) or control (n=20) for 30 minutes prior to the post-test. We performed a 3x3 repeated measures linear mixed model to determine how educational level (first-, second-, or third-year biology) and intervention type (no intervention, simulation, or game) affected students' molecular misconceptions from pre-test to post-test. While educational level did not have an effect on misconceptions, the intervention type did (p<.001). A priori pairwise comparisons revealed that participants who were not exposed to any intervention retained significantly more misconceptions in comparison to those exposed to the interactive simulation (p=.007) as well as those exposed to the game (p<.001), while adjusting for educational level. A trending difference was found between the simulation group and the gaming group (p=.084), with gamers resolving more misconceptions. Analysis of gameplay data revealed that gamers experienced significantly more instances of productive negativity than control-users (p<.001) and that a trending relationship exists between the quality of productively negative events and lower post-test misconceptions (p=.066).
This study examines techniques for calling attention to the random movements of two proteins with... more This study examines techniques for calling attention to the random movements of two proteins within a crowded molecular environment, while simultaneously depicting a binding event. Participants (n=148) watched one of five cued animations with or without external overlay highlighting the movements of two binding proteins. We hypothesized that one of the four external cueing treatments (linear path, velocity vectors, ghosting, and heat map) would provide students with important insights about the stochastic nature of molecular events without impeding their ability to follow the binding process. Multiple choice pre and post-test measures were collected using iClickers. While additional cueing strategies did moderate participants' understanding of interactions they failed to correct prior conceptions relating to the stochastic nature of molecular environments.