AMERICAN DYNASTIES Shows Strong Results in Classroom Testing
Classroom tests of the AMERICAN DYNASTIES social history game prototype showed positive results for the five key learning objectives the prototype was designed to meet.
The independent evaluation was carried out by Char Associates, and focused on pilot classroom tests of the prototype in in three schools in the northeast: a public/independent middle school in rural Vermont, a parochial K-8 school in Baltimore, Maryland, and a large public middle school in New York City. A total of 214 students from grades 6, 7 and 8 participated in the fall field test.
American Dynasties is a series of innovative 3-D games that engage middle-school students in social history. It is one of seven projects funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB’s ) American History and Civics Initiative to explore new ways to teach history and civics to middle and high school students using 21st Century media. American Dynasties is created by partners The Center for New American Media, Muzzy Lane Software, and Maryland Public Television.
The core of the project is a series of role-playing games that let students put themselves in the place of Americans from past eras, learning about what life was like and making decisions that affect their characters’ futures. In the prototype, students play the role of Anna Caruso, an immigrant textile mill worker in 1906. As Anna, they face everyday challenges and ethical decisions in a town facing labor unrest.
The prototype’s learning objectives were to enhance students’: 1) understanding of what it was like to live in the early 1900’s, 2) awareness of technological change and industrialization during this period, 3) understanding of the challenges of textile production, from both the worker and factory standpoints, 4) historical awareness of the social and economic differences among Americans at the time, as well as the key issues, trade-offs and perspectives surrounding labor strife, and 5) historical knowledge and ability to process and leverage multiple perspectives.
A range of data collection methods were utilized by the evaluation team, including classroom observations, teacher interviews, collection of classroom materials, student small group interviews, and student pre- and post-program questionnaires.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
In summary, the fall classroom field test of American Dynasties indicated a highly receptive audience for the interactive narrative, role-playing game. Students were highly engaged with the game, and actively explored the game’s 3-D immersive physical and social world, in the shoes of the mill worker avatar. Students analyzed evidence presented in the game, and considered how it supported different positions on key labor issues and reflected different perspectives, depending on the source.
Students demonstrated clear gains in their understanding and appreciation of the turn-of-the century mill towns and factory life, and surrounding financial demands and labor strife. Furthermore, students applied some of this new knowledge, skills and sensibilities to their interpretations of new, unfamiliar primary sources from a similar historic era.
Teachers were observed utilizing a number of rich curricular links between the game and what they normally teach in history and social studies. They spoke highly of the game’s ability to enable students to vividly experience “the individual story within the macro history”, to evaluate and synthesize information, and to give students the much too rare opportunity to be in control over their own learning.
Highlights of the reports findings are included below. Please contact us if you would like more information from the full report.
HIGHLIGHTS OF MAJOR FINDINGS INCLUDE:
• Students were highly engaged with the game, paying close to attention to its nuances, and making purposeful choices in game interactions. Student discussion while playing was almost exclusively “on-task,” focusing on the game play and the choices they were encountering.
• Students gained a variety and depth of knowledge and analytical skills from the game. This learning revolved around the financial situation of the mill, life in a New England town, and labor strife.
• Students demonstrated that they were able to apply this knowledge and analytical skill to new situations, when presented with unfamiliar primary sources of various forms. For example, students were able to make a number of meaningful comparisons between a real 1911 Mississippi cotton mill depicted in a black and white photograph and the fictional Boylston Mill in the game world.
• Post-tests revealed that students were able to formulate their own independent conclusion as to whether or not the mill was in financial trouble and whether worker’s wages were fair. Students accurately recalled and cited at least several, and sometimes up to five, appropriate pieces of evidence from the game to reach their conclusion, and one in four tried to factor in the points of view of both the individual worker and the mill owner.
• When asked to envision what one might find in a 1906 mill town in New England, students exhibited a clear increase in their knowledge of the nature of such a town, including the kinds of buildings, occupations, and objects for purchase that one might find.
• Students found the game highly appealing, with lots of excited comments, smiles, and laughter while playing. Students were seen “high-five-ing” each other when they did well on the loom game, and intensely debating what objects they could afford to buy with their sometimes meager wages earned through the loom game. Students readily embraced the costs of 1906 objects as meaningful and real, took seriously Anna’s economic situation, and dutifully stuck to her goals.
• Classroom teachers identified a number of rich curricular links between the game and what they normally teach in history/social studies. Classroom teachers also actively integrated game play with other pedagogical methods, combining the game with note-taking and other writing tasks and assignments, whole group and small group class discussions, and homework.
• Game play worked well in small groups, with students working in pairs or groups of 3-4 at one computer. Several teachers mentioned how the group work was critical to enabling students to recognize: 1) the multiple perspectives embodied in, and fostered through the game, and 2) the multiple interpretations of primary sources and evidence that supported stances regarding labor strife.
• After game play, students looking at a table of factory wages from a 1904 North Carolina cotton mill were more likely to mention more specific wage discrepancies between different types of jobs, and whether those differences seemed justified. Similarly, when looking at the range of wages earned by the weavers, students on their post-tests were more likely to cite that wages depended on how much you produce, whether you were penalized for defects or poor performance, or the quality of cloth produced – all worker production issues raised in the American Dynasties game.
• When analyzing a written account of a plant accident at a Connecticut paper factory in 1908, a number of students indicated that they learned something from the American Dynasties game that helped them better understand the written account. Student comments centered on the game heightening their awareness of the physical danger of the machines and of work/management relationships.
• Students also expressed interest in using American Dynasties at home. They believed their peers would also enjoy the game, and were interested in playing future versions of the game featuring other historical eras. As one boy expressed when describing what he liked most about the game, “You got to be in the middle of history, and see what it was like, experience it.”
ABOUT MUZZY LANE SOFTWARE
Muzzy Lane Software is an innovative developer of 3-D single and multiplayer games. Based in Newburyport, Mass, the company creates its own branded games and works with partners to produce private-label games. Muzzy Lane's products take a fresh new approach to computer games, combining a flexible 3-D game engine with high-fidelity content and tools that allow players to customize their game and add their own content. For more information, visit www.muzzylane.com.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR NEW AMERICAN MEDIA
The Center for New American Media is an innovative media production company that understands how to craft effective and engaging stories to make history come. Their documentary films have been featured on PBS, a have won numerous awards, including the Peabody Award and the DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award. For more information, visit www.cnam.com.
ABOUT CHAR ASSOCIATES
Char Associates is an independent consulting firm specializing in the design and evaluation of educational programs and products. They provide program and materials development, program evaluation, and training for a wide variety of clients involved in formal and informal education, including corporations, government agencies, community-based organizations, museums, schools, and universities. Established in 1996 by Dr. Cynthia Char, Ed.D., Char Associates draws upon 30 years of experience in educational program design and evaluation, and has clients throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.charassociates.com
Monday, Jan 05, 2009
Classroom tests of the AMERICAN DYNASTIES social history game prototype showed positive results for the five key learning objectives the prototype was designed to meet.
The independent evaluation was carried out by Char Associates, and focused on pilot classroom tests of the prototype in in three schools in the northeast: a public/independent middle school in rural Vermont, a parochial K-8 school in Baltimore, Maryland, and a large public middle school in New York City. A total of 214 students from grades 6, 7 and 8 participated in the fall field test.
American Dynasties is a series of innovative 3-D games that engage middle-school students in social history. It is one of seven projects funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB’s ) American History and Civics Initiative to explore new ways to teach history and civics to middle and high school students using 21st Century media. American Dynasties is created by partners The Center for New American Media, Muzzy Lane Software, and Maryland Public Television.
The core of the project is a series of role-playing games that let students put themselves in the place of Americans from past eras, learning about what life was like and making decisions that affect their characters’ futures. In the prototype, students play the role of Anna Caruso, an immigrant textile mill worker in 1906. As Anna, they face everyday challenges and ethical decisions in a town facing labor unrest.
The prototype’s learning objectives were to enhance students’: 1) understanding of what it was like to live in the early 1900’s, 2) awareness of technological change and industrialization during this period, 3) understanding of the challenges of textile production, from both the worker and factory standpoints, 4) historical awareness of the social and economic differences among Americans at the time, as well as the key issues, trade-offs and perspectives surrounding labor strife, and 5) historical knowledge and ability to process and leverage multiple perspectives.
A range of data collection methods were utilized by the evaluation team, including classroom observations, teacher interviews, collection of classroom materials, student small group interviews, and student pre- and post-program questionnaires.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
In summary, the fall classroom field test of American Dynasties indicated a highly receptive audience for the interactive narrative, role-playing game. Students were highly engaged with the game, and actively explored the game’s 3-D immersive physical and social world, in the shoes of the mill worker avatar. Students analyzed evidence presented in the game, and considered how it supported different positions on key labor issues and reflected different perspectives, depending on the source.
Students demonstrated clear gains in their understanding and appreciation of the turn-of-the century mill towns and factory life, and surrounding financial demands and labor strife. Furthermore, students applied some of this new knowledge, skills and sensibilities to their interpretations of new, unfamiliar primary sources from a similar historic era.
Teachers were observed utilizing a number of rich curricular links between the game and what they normally teach in history and social studies. They spoke highly of the game’s ability to enable students to vividly experience “the individual story within the macro history”, to evaluate and synthesize information, and to give students the much too rare opportunity to be in control over their own learning.
Highlights of the reports findings are included below. Please contact us if you would like more information from the full report.
HIGHLIGHTS OF MAJOR FINDINGS INCLUDE:
• Students were highly engaged with the game, paying close to attention to its nuances, and making purposeful choices in game interactions. Student discussion while playing was almost exclusively “on-task,” focusing on the game play and the choices they were encountering.
• Students gained a variety and depth of knowledge and analytical skills from the game. This learning revolved around the financial situation of the mill, life in a New England town, and labor strife.
• Students demonstrated that they were able to apply this knowledge and analytical skill to new situations, when presented with unfamiliar primary sources of various forms. For example, students were able to make a number of meaningful comparisons between a real 1911 Mississippi cotton mill depicted in a black and white photograph and the fictional Boylston Mill in the game world.
• Post-tests revealed that students were able to formulate their own independent conclusion as to whether or not the mill was in financial trouble and whether worker’s wages were fair. Students accurately recalled and cited at least several, and sometimes up to five, appropriate pieces of evidence from the game to reach their conclusion, and one in four tried to factor in the points of view of both the individual worker and the mill owner.
• When asked to envision what one might find in a 1906 mill town in New England, students exhibited a clear increase in their knowledge of the nature of such a town, including the kinds of buildings, occupations, and objects for purchase that one might find.
• Students found the game highly appealing, with lots of excited comments, smiles, and laughter while playing. Students were seen “high-five-ing” each other when they did well on the loom game, and intensely debating what objects they could afford to buy with their sometimes meager wages earned through the loom game. Students readily embraced the costs of 1906 objects as meaningful and real, took seriously Anna’s economic situation, and dutifully stuck to her goals.
• Classroom teachers identified a number of rich curricular links between the game and what they normally teach in history/social studies. Classroom teachers also actively integrated game play with other pedagogical methods, combining the game with note-taking and other writing tasks and assignments, whole group and small group class discussions, and homework.
• Game play worked well in small groups, with students working in pairs or groups of 3-4 at one computer. Several teachers mentioned how the group work was critical to enabling students to recognize: 1) the multiple perspectives embodied in, and fostered through the game, and 2) the multiple interpretations of primary sources and evidence that supported stances regarding labor strife.
• After game play, students looking at a table of factory wages from a 1904 North Carolina cotton mill were more likely to mention more specific wage discrepancies between different types of jobs, and whether those differences seemed justified. Similarly, when looking at the range of wages earned by the weavers, students on their post-tests were more likely to cite that wages depended on how much you produce, whether you were penalized for defects or poor performance, or the quality of cloth produced – all worker production issues raised in the American Dynasties game.
• When analyzing a written account of a plant accident at a Connecticut paper factory in 1908, a number of students indicated that they learned something from the American Dynasties game that helped them better understand the written account. Student comments centered on the game heightening their awareness of the physical danger of the machines and of work/management relationships.
• Students also expressed interest in using American Dynasties at home. They believed their peers would also enjoy the game, and were interested in playing future versions of the game featuring other historical eras. As one boy expressed when describing what he liked most about the game, “You got to be in the middle of history, and see what it was like, experience it.”
ABOUT MUZZY LANE SOFTWARE
Muzzy Lane Software is an innovative developer of 3-D single and multiplayer games. Based in Newburyport, Mass, the company creates its own branded games and works with partners to produce private-label games. Muzzy Lane's products take a fresh new approach to computer games, combining a flexible 3-D game engine with high-fidelity content and tools that allow players to customize their game and add their own content. For more information, visit www.muzzylane.com.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR NEW AMERICAN MEDIA
The Center for New American Media is an innovative media production company that understands how to craft effective and engaging stories to make history come. Their documentary films have been featured on PBS, a have won numerous awards, including the Peabody Award and the DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award. For more information, visit www.cnam.com.
ABOUT CHAR ASSOCIATES
Char Associates is an independent consulting firm specializing in the design and evaluation of educational programs and products. They provide program and materials development, program evaluation, and training for a wide variety of clients involved in formal and informal education, including corporations, government agencies, community-based organizations, museums, schools, and universities. Established in 1996 by Dr. Cynthia Char, Ed.D., Char Associates draws upon 30 years of experience in educational program design and evaluation, and has clients throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.charassociates.com