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THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING
Interactive game gives science lesson
By Shari Rudavsky, Globe Correspondent, 7/27/2003 Glancing down at what looked like a Lego studded with lights in his
hand, sophomore Zach Rowe blurted out: ''I need some old people who want
to breed.''
His classmates all clutched similar devices - ''wearable computers'' in
educational game parlance - as they played ''Live Long and Prosper,'' a
game devised by MIT researchers to help students master the tenets of
genetics.
As the students play, they're helping the game's inventors decide which
of two platforms - the ID badge-sized computers or Palm pilots -- works
better as an educational tool.
''What kind of experiences can we give students that allow them to
investigate real science?'' asked Eric Klopfer, director of MIT's Teacher
Education Program, who is overseeing the project that has gone into
several area classrooms the past year.
Live Long's basic concept is the same for both versions: The devices,
either the Palms or handheld computers, are five-gened creatures. On the
wearable computer, red, green, or blinking lights stand for different
phenotypes, connoting how the gene is expressed. On the Palm, dots,
stripes, or solid gene icons represent phenotypes.
Over the course of a class or two, students have to determine what
trait each gene governs as well as genotype. The goal, as in evolution, is
to live as long as possible and to mate as often as possible - leading to
a cross of the parents' phenotypes and providing further clues as to
genotype.
The devices are almost like cyber fruit flies that produce several
generations in the course of a class period.
''It's a lot of fun. It helps you understand genetics more than just
seeing it on the board,'' said Tara Sullivan, a student at Worcester
Academy, which also has tested the game.
Klopfer's group has put together a number of other games as well,
including Bee-havior, a game that teaches students about altruism, and a
predator-prey game.
One theme runs through all: ''They help students understand the system
from the inside,'' Klopfer said.
How students play also helps education researchers understand how they
learn. The Palms are state-of-the-art technology while the wearables offer
a cruder basic approach. Once the group fine-tunes the software, it plans
to offer it to schools for free. Worcester Academy has expressed interest.
''The fact that it was inquiry-based learning and something that was
cutting edge appealed to us,'' said Antonio Viva, Worcester's chief
technology officer. ''This is one science class doing one simulation, but
what are the possibilities?''
Like many other schools, Worcester Academy is in the process of trying
to determine how to best invest its technology dollars. Palms such as the
ones Klopfer uses cost less than $100, so purchasing enough for every
student in a science class would not eat up as significant a portion of
the computer budget, Viva said.
The interactive-based programs might help engage students who don't
necessarily learn well through lectures, said science department chair
Barbara Gould. ''It's just a different way of learning information.''
As for the students, they relish the chance to have their biology
lessons leap out of texts and into their hands.
This story ran on page C5 of the Boston Globe on
7/27/2003. |
