Gaming In Education at the University of Illinois

Increasing Underrepresented Minority Involvement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

While achievement in mathematics has improved over the past thirty years among American high-school students overall, the same cannot be said for most minority groups. A study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that 80 percent of Asian Americans and 74 percent of whites scored at or above the basic level on a mathematics assessment for 12th-grade students. Fifty-seven percent of Native Americans scored at or above the basic level, followed by 44 percent of Hispanics and 31 percent of African Americans (Science and Engineering Indicators, 2004). These numbers are symptomatic of the disproportionately small number of underrepresented minorities completing college degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Our proposed research initiative lays the foundation for further study and amelioration of this phenomenon. We seek to address the reasons for the under-representation of minorities in STEM fields, and to suggest and plan solutions for supplementing classroom learning and curricular development. We want to systematically develop a project that shows how gaming technology is a viable vehicle for teaching STEM-related skills. Our research questions include: Can technology, such as computer-gaming, be used to teach minority students STEM subjects? Can such technology act as a bridge or incentive to lure and retain minority students in STEM fields? By the end of the planning year, we will have developed substantial research on how a technology-based curriculum/model could lead to the programmatic development of alternative ways of teaching and reinforcing STEM-subject core skills. Ultimately, we endeavor to make the University of Illinois synonymous with empowering educational technologies for minority groups.

List of references for games in education.

Sorted secondary references.

EVENT !!!

Steven Hoy and Nteido Etuk from

Tabula Digita on Campus March 30^th and 31^st

Ntiedo “NT” Etuk is the CEO and founder of Tabula Digita, the company that developed Dimenxian (a promising educational video game that purports to improve mathematics skills). During his years in corporate America, Mr. Etuk was actively engaged in tutoring mathematics in The Big Brothers Big Sisters programs. This raised his awareness of the challenges faced by students in today's under funded and overburdened school systems. These experiences inspired Mr. Etuk to begin developing alternative teaching methodologies that enable students to learn while they play.

Steven Hoy is VP Sales & Business Development for Tabula Digita. As a co-founder of Edutest, Inc. in 1996, he managed sales and marketing for the market leader in web-based K-12 testing and assessment. At the start of the education standards movement, Steven acquired implementations in more than 50% of Virginia’s school districts and successfully launched the first and largest online practice testing in Virginia and Florida.

Click here for the Dimenxian Game Trailer !!!

Click here for the Campus Talk Flier !!!

Primary Investigator:

Sharon Tettegah (Curriculum and Instruction) Dr. Tettegah holds a Ph.D. in educational psychology. Her current research interests are interdisciplinary. Prof. Tettegah specializes in the examinination of cognitions related to problem solving. She investigates various aspects of classroom teaching and learning using multimedia simulations and virtual reality environments. Other areas of research include the exploration of race-related discourse using web based methodologies.

Research Team: