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Center for Educational Technologies projects have ended (except Challenger Learning Center) and are no longer funded.

Selene Videogame Is Finalist for Disney Award

Jun 29 2010

The Selene educational videogame created by the Center for Educational Technologies has been named one of 15 finalists in the Disney Research Challenge.

The competition seeks to show that sophisticated concepts can be conveyed via entertaining interactions on computers. Entrants had to develop an engaging learning widget that would delight, inspire, and reveal key learning concepts for children ages 7-11. Winners will be announced at the SIGGRAPH 2010 Exhibition July 25-29 in Los Angeles.

Selene: A Lunar Construction Game, was funded by NASA to study how to best use videogames in the teaching of NASA science concepts. The game is now part of the National Science Foundation-funded CyGaMEs project, an approach to instructional game design and embedded assessment.

an image from the Selene videogame.
In Selene players learn difficult geological concepts like accretion, differentiation, impact cratering, and volcanism by applying these science concepts to help players move toward the game's goal of building the Earth's moon. Players construct the moon, then pepper it with impact craters and flood it with lava to experience how our moon formed and changed over time. All through the game Selene tracks each player's behavior to measure learning and the player's response to the game environment.

The CyGaMEs research team has successfully used gameplay data and embedded assessments to identify and measure learning. This advance is required to accomplish the national vision of learner-centered education through cyberlearning.