Flowometer Tool Is Subject of Book Chapter
Apr 22 2010
The flowometer tool used in the Selene videogame to measure players' engagement in the game is the subject of a chapter in a newly published book investigating the effect of videogames on human cognition.
The book is titled Gaming & Cognition: Theories and Perspectives from the Learning Sciences. The chapter, "Introducing Flowometer: A CyGaMEs Assessment," was written by Dr. Debbie Denise Reese, senior educational researcher at the Center for Educational Technologies®. Reese is principal investigator of the CyGaMEs project, a National Science Foundation-funded effort to promote the development of sound educational videogames. The work continues research first completed by the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future at the center on how best to teach NASA science through videogames. That initial effort led to development of the Selene game, which is now being enhanced.
The gaming book and chapter are available online through IGI Global. The book is edited by Richard Van Eck (University of North Dakota.
In the chapter (pp. 227-254) Reese describes CyGaMEs, which stands for Cyberlearning through Game-based, Metaphor Enhanced Learning Objects, as an approach to instructional game design and assessment using structure mapping, the flow concept, and game design theories. She describes how the flowometer tool offers real-time assessment of players' engagement when playing Selene. In the game players form the Moon, pepper it with impact craters, and flood it with lava to learn the basic concepts of solar system formation and evolution.
