NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

By: Marny Skora

The number of jobs requiring science and engineering skills in the U.S. labor force is increasing by five percent annually. However, today’s students are generally not performing well enough in math and science to take firm command of their own futures.

That’s the bad news the National Commission on Math and Science Teaching concluded in their Report to the Nation at the beginning of the 21st century. Now, six years later, the picture doesn’t look any rosier.



Image Right: Pondering a new approach to teaching Algebra I to middle school students are conference participants (l to r) Dave Blackburn, director of the Program for Research & Evaluation in Public Schools at ODU’s Darden College of Education; Demetris Geddis, assistant professor in the Department of Engineering at NSU; and Pete Schrider, business development executive for Breakaway Ltd., a company focused on modeling & simulation software for serious games. PHOTO CREDIT: JEFF CAPLAN/NASA.

Enter a diverse group of Hampton Roads professionals who have decided to do something about the downward trend. They have agreed to work together to ensure the ability of Virginia students to compete in our increasingly complex global world. Their weapon of choice – games.

“Games are part of our social and cultural environment,” says Dr. Christine Darden, director of Strategic Communications and Education at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton. “Today’s children grow up playing computer, video and Internet games. Let’s engage them via their own interests.”

Langley Research Center joined with the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center in Portsmouth to host a two-day event at NASA to investigate the learning potential of serious games. Invitees included educators, business professionals, leaders of non-profit organizations and government agencies, state and local elected officials and community activists.

“To improve science and math education, we need to speak the language of today’s students – and their language is video games,” says Todd Borghesani, business development consultant for Serious Games.



Image Right: Tasked with how to “sell” modeling & simulation as well as gaming as an effective means for teaching science, technology, engineering, and math courses are (l to r) Holly Hanrahan, K-12 education outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Space Grant Consortium; Dan Cherry, education specialist at NASA’s Langley Research Center; and Mary Bunting, assistant city manager for the City of Hampton. PHOTO CREDIT: JEFF CAPLAN/NASA.

Video games have long entertained users by placing them in fantasy worlds full of dragons or spaceships. “Serious games” goes beyond entertainment. This new generation of games immerses players in real-world situations. They employ a premise that has the look and feel of a game, but it is actually a simulation of an event or process. Learning results as that premise is proved or disproved through a series of problem solving moves or actions.

“We do just that every day at NASA when we simulate aerospace events to determine the best solution for a given set of problems,” states Sharon Welch, Innovative Work Team lead in the Langley Chief Technologist’s Office. Welch is heading the Center’s modeling and simulation initiative. “Education and gaming are just a good fit.”

Looking ten years down the road, conference participants devised a course of action that they hope will alter math and science statistics for the future. They chose algebra as their attack point.

“The middle school student who opts out of Algebra 1 limits his future employment choices,” ,” warns Bob Alpino, administrative director, Eastern Virginia Area Health Education Center at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk. “Without advanced math, you block a potential career in engineering, science or medicine.”

“Our vision is to regain international competitiveness in science, technology, engineering and math through the introduction and implementation of instructional games and modeling and simulation into the curriculum, “ concludes Bob Sharak, director of special projects fo the Hampton Roads Partnership.

The plan has been drafted, the designers are enthusiastic, the committees have been formed and the next meeting set. Target implementation is statewide, but the long-term goal is to develop a model for the nation. Let the games begin.

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