Formative+Assessments+with+DimensionU+Gaming

**Formative Assessment with Gaming** **Tool: DimensionU**  by Melissa Landry DeBacker   **//Game-informed learning //**//“ //suggests that educational processes themselves should be informed by the experience of gameplay—a tenet similar to the principles of contemporary active learning approaches such as constructivism and problem-based learning (PBL)” (Begg, Dewhurst, Macleod, 2005). **Potential Benefits of Educational Gaming: **
 * Reflection and Metacognition: Reflection outside of game play can result in students making connections to authentic social, academic, personal ideas, changes, predictions and outcomes.
 * Context-Embedded Learning: “Video games are able to provide students with a context that allows them to learn by doing, remain in a state of flow, explore microworlds that allow easy transfer of learning, develop situated and distributed understanding, exercise new identities, and benefit from role-playing” (Wagner, 2008).


 * Social Change: Video games can... disrupt and change fundamental attitudes and beliefs about the world, leading to potentially significant long-term social change (Bogost, 2007).


 * Gaming and Assessment with DimensionU **

Gaming in education is not only motivational and entertaining for students, but also has the ability to promote creativty and critical thinking. In addition, it has the ability to contribute to the development of an array of skills such as problem solving, 21st century skills, and social skills. Gaming has the ability to allow for ongoing **//formative assessments//** of content skills. Often, games have built-in motivators and feedback. For example, while playing //[|DimensionU]//, students are rewarded with points and positive feedback. Upon completing a game, the student can view their individual results. Based on their results, the students can remediate themselves with multiplayer gaming, individual gaming, or instructional modules. In addition, the results can be emailed to the teacher. The teacher also has the ability to generate a variety of reports. The reports can be based on the entire student body, class period, skill, or on an instructional module. The results can be exported to a) Excel, b) XML, c) CSV, d) PDF, e) MHTML, f) TIFF, and g) Word. See image one. 

In addition to gaming, DimensionU also includes instructional modules for language and mathematics. Based on the results of game play and class instruction, the teacher can choose an instructional module that reflects the needs of individual students or instructional target goals. See image two. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">Instructional modules are designed to meet the needs of various learning styles and levels. The modules include visuals, text, interactivity, and definitions of content terms. See image three. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">The following are images of an instructional module quiz. See images four, five, and six. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">DimensionU Details **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">[|DimensionU] is computer based and Web-based. In order to play individual and multiplayer games you have download the program to a computer.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">Individual games are computer based


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">Multiplayer games are Web-based


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">Instructional modules are Web-based

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">DimensionU has been provided to several schools throughout the United States via a grant from the Department of Defense. Mt. Gap Middle School has been fortunate enough to be provided the tool for three years. A site license for one subject for one year is about $3000. Without the grant MGMS would not be able to afford DimensionU. The students and teachers at MGMS have seized the moment and are using the tool to engage, monitor, and assess students in language arts and mathematics.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">References <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;"> note - All images are from DimensionU and were created using Jing.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">[|Marc Prensky - How do we persuade the public that kids playing games constitutes 'real' learning?]Video
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">More Information on Educational Gaming in the 21st Century **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">[|DimensionU articles] Reading material

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">[|The Education Arcade]Website

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px; line-height: 115%;">[|Marc Prensky.com] Website