Ball State University

Information on Use of Human Subjects:

This project involves the use of multiple protocols/subprojects.
Number of protocols/subprojects associated with this project: 2

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Review:
Type of Review: Full Board
Approving Institution: Ball State University
Most recent approval: 06/29/06
IRB approval number: 06-364
Explanation of IRB approval:
We had to receive IRB approval prior to 10/1/2006.

Number of human subjects who participated in this project/protocol/subproject in the last reporting period: 15
Reporting period for number of human subjects: Fiscal Year 2007

Type(s) of Human Subjects Involvement:

Use of personally identifiable data from questionnaires, surveys, or epidemiological studies:

• Using data collected from subjects specifically for this project.

Use of human beings to develop/test instruments, materials, devices, objects, and the like or to investigate the "man-machine interface".

(a. Objectives, b. Methodology, c. Ionizing Radiation, Radioactive Substances, or Chemical Substances to which human subjects are exposed, d. Involvement of Human Subjects [d.1. procedures used, d.2. risks if any])

If the United States is to remain competitive in the global economy, our citizens must not only be scientifically literate but also innovative. American society is increasingly dependent upon sophisticated technologies. However, only a small fraction of our citizens actually understand those technologies. Improvements to science education will help move the economy to the next level, where average citizens have an understanding of scientific and technical principles. The development of new media in science education will help pull us toward that goal. The entertainment industry has taken the concept of "gaming" from the checkerboard to the rich, interactive gaming media that children enjoy today. The same approach can be applied to science education. The same rich, interactive media can be used to pull American youth into fascination with science and scientific discovery.

The Science Literacy Project supports the creation of new interactive and hands-on media modules for the teaching and learning of science and scientific principles. A team comprised of classroom science teachers, scientists, animators, researchers, and technology specialists will collaboratively create, design, and test new computer-based digital content and activities for use in secondary science classrooms. This innovative process of including practicing classroom teachers as a central component to design, an outside media company as partner and developer, a team of researchers/educators as consultants and evaluators, a team of computer science and art developers, and a team with experienced leadership to direct design, creation, and implementation, is a unique attribute of this project.

Project goals include:
a). Identify conceptual roadblocks in science understanding.
b.) Identify best practices.
c.) Produce rich, interactive, hands-on media building based on best practices.

Project subjects include five classroom teachers from area mathematics or science middle school or high school classrooms. Three of the five teachers currently work in University Schools (Indiana Academy and Burris). The fourth teacher is from Yorktown Middle School and the fifth teacher from Alexandria Middle School. The game developers will be employees of Outside Source Design or graduate students working under the direction of a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science, BSU. The team members have been assembled to work on the project by the project leader. No additional recruitment is planned at this point.

The data collected in phase one will be primarily descriptive in nature. The teachers will describe the rationale, teaching and learning goals, as well as the student misconceptions each module is meant to address. Developers will document their interpretation and creation of the teacher concept into an online module. During the process of creating and implementing modules, project personnel will use interviews, questionnaires, blogging, or journaling. Teachers will also keep journals of how their original conceptions for the modules may have changed over the course of the project. The developers will also keep a journal of how the teacher's concepts for the modules were translated into games. There will be a username and password protected computer account created that will have a common area where the team members may make postings to be shared by all group members. The teachers and developers will also have private areas for their journals that will only be accessible to the researchers.

All common area and journal entries will be kept confidential. Any identifying information will be removed or modified prior to inclusion in any reports or publications. Only pseudonyms will be used in all reports to ensure the confidentiality of all participants. The teachers and developers are being compensated with grant money for their participation on the project. The compensation is not tied to the quality or frequency of their journal entries in any manner.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Review:
Type of Review: Full Board
Approving Institution: Ball State University
Most recent approval: 03/06/07
IRB approval number: 07-223

Number of human subjects who participated in this project/protocol/subproject in the last reporting period: 15
Reporting period for number of human subjects: Fiscal Year 2007

Type(s) of Human Subjects Involvement:

Use of human beings to develop/test instruments, materials, devices, objects, and the like or to investigate the "man-machine interface".

(a. Objectives, b. Methodology, c. Ionizing Radiation, Radioactive Substances, or Chemical Substances to which human subjects are exposed, d. Involvement of Human Subjects [d.1. procedures used, d.2. risks if any])

a. To do usability testing of mathematics and science games in classrooms for feedback to developers.

b. The software developers task was to turn the learning objectives into short, electronic game-like activities that assist learning and dissuade common misconceptions for up to five topics: 1) photosynthesis; 2) vectors of velocity, acceleration, and force; 3) mass and weight; 4) density; and 5) surface area and volume. BSU graduate and undergraduate students under the direction of Dr. Jay Bagga are also developing three game-like activities in a parallel manner to assist in teaching concepts: 1) introduction of variables in mathematics; 2) balancing chemical equations; and 3) cell division. These software development activities are still ongoing, but modules will take the general form of a brief pre-assessment of current level of understanding of the topic, followed by game activities to address the deficiencies, and a post-assessment. For example, in photosynthesis, the player will need to collect the proper ratio of light, carbon dioxide, and chlorophyll to proceed further in the game.

The initial generation of games was taken to area classrooms for usability testing. Middle school students played each game and immediately afterwards gave written feedback regarding their perception of the games. This data are then fed back to the developers for improvement.

c. Phase One teachers are currently working on the project. All teachers have signed an informed consent letter. There are no known risks for participation. No personal names will be used in reporting usability testing. The learning/game modules will be part of regular classroom instruction, so students would not need additional recruitment.