Overview

Minecraft logo representing the popular video game Integrating computing into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education at the K-12 level is critical to creating a competitive, innovative workforce that is capable of the computational thinking needs of the future. Efforts to increase intrinsic interest in math and data science have proven difficult to apply evenly across gender, race, and socio-economic factors. This research project will assist in creating a more stable, ethical, and inclusive data science workforce by broadening the interest in data science to a more diverse population of students. This research spans the fields of game design, human computer interaction, machine learning, curriculum design and educational assessment by integrating STEM+C based curriculum directly into “Minecraft”. It advances the knowledge in game-based learning by building on techniques and experiences from commercial game design. The game and infrastructure produced through this research will serve as a vital computing resource for middle and high school educators that will be sustained beyond the current project.

CTE-STEM 2021

To learn more, watch this video of Ching-Yu (Eva) Tseng and Paul Foster presenting virtually at the International Conference on Computational Thinking and STEM Education (CTE-STEM) 2021

Funder

National Science Foundation has awarded SMU Researchers: Corey Clark, Ph.D., Leanne Ketterlin Geller, Ph.D. and Eric Larson, Ph.D. a $1,521,615 (Award Number: 1933848) 4 year grant to research teaching computer science and computational thinking via Minecraft.

Principal Investigators

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1.5 million four-year grant to research teaching computer science and computational thinking via Minecraft. The collaborative group from the SMU Schools of Engineering and Education are led by PI Corey Clark, Ph.D. and Co-PIs Eric Larson, Ph.D. and Leanne Ketterlin Geller, Ph.D.

Conference Papers

Tseng, C., Foster, P. D., Klinkert, J., Adams, E. L., Clark, C., Larson, E. C., & Ketterlin-Geller, L. R. (2022, August). Using cognitive walkthroughs to evaluate students’ computational thinking during gameplay. Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Mathematics Education for the Future Project. King’s College, Cambridge University, UK, 542-547.

Adams, E. L., Tseng, C., Foster, P., Luo, V., Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., & Clark, C. (2021, June). A standard decomposition process to inform the development of game-based learning environments focused on computational thinking. Proceedings of Fifth APSCE International Conference on Computational Thinking and STEM Education 2021. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (Virtual Conference), 47-50.

Presentations

Pan, Y., Adams, E. L., Foster, P., Klinkert, J. L., Goff, E., Tseng, C., Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., & Clark, C. (October 2023). Fostering middle school students’ computational thinking competency in game-based learning. Poster presentation at the Association for Education Communications & Technology International Convention (AECT), Orlando, Florida & Virtual.

Adams, E. L., Foster, P. D., Klinkert, L. J., Goff, E., Tseng, C., Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., & Clark, C. (2023). Using a new version of Minecraft to promote computational thinking learning opportunities: Investigating middle grades student outcomes. Roundtable to be presented to the American Educational Research Association place-based conference, Chicago, IL.

Tseng, C., Foster, P. D., Klinkert, J., Adams, E. L., Clark, C., Larson, E. C., & Ketterlin-Geller, L. R. (2022, August). Using cognitive walkthroughs to evaluate students’ computational thinking during gameplay. Paper presented to the International Conference of the Mathematics Education for the Future Project, King’s College, Cambridge University, UK.

Foster, P., Tseng, C., Klinkert, L. J., Adams, E. L., Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., & Clark, C. (2022, April). Assessing middle school student computational thinking in an immersive game environment. Poster presented at the National Council for Measurement in Education (NCME), San Diego, CA.

Tseng, C., Foster, P. D., Adams, E. L., Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., Luo, V., Klinkert, L. J., & Clark, C. (2022, April). Incorporating teacher voice in the development of game-based learning environments. Poster to be presented to the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA

Adams, E. L., Tseng, C., Foster, P., Luo, V., Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., & Clark, C. (2021). A standard decomposition process to inform the development of game-based learning environments focused on computational thinking. Paper presented to the International Conference on Computational Thinking and STEM Education (Virtual).

Klinkert, L. J., Foster, P. D., Adams, E. L., Clark, C., Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., Tseng, C., & Luo, V. (2021). Building Student Computational Thinking using Online Gaming. 2021 STEM for All Video Showcase. http: https://stemforall2021.videohall.com/presentations/1994

Luo, V., Klinkert, L. J., Foster, P., Tseng, C., Adams, E., Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., & Clark, C. (2021, October). A Multidisciplinary Approach To Designing Immersive Gameplay Elements for Learning Standard-Based Educational Content. In Extended Abstracts of the 2021 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY '21), Virtual Event, Austria. ACM, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1145/3450337.3483467 Video summary available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IpABsflZEE

Technical Reports

Foster, P. D., Adams, E. L., Tseng, C., & Ketterlin-Geller, L. R. (2022). STEM+C Learning Standards Decomposition (Tech Rep. No. 22-04). Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University, Research in Mathematics Education.

Adams, E. L., & Ketterlin-Geller, L. R. (2022). STEM+C Data Collection and Analysis Plan (Tech Rep. No. 22-02). Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University, Research in Mathematics Education.

Tseng, C., Foster, P. D., Adams, E. L., Ketterlin Geller, L. R., Larson, E. C., Luo, V., Klinkert, L. & Clark, C. (2022). Incorporating Teacher Voice in the Development of Game-Based Learning Environments (Tech Rep. No 22-03). Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University, Research in Mathematics Education.

Tseng, C., Ketterlin Geller, L. R., Clark, C., & Larson, E. C. (2020). STEM+C Educator Advisory Panel (Tech Rep. No 20-18). Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University, Research in Mathematics Education.