Nearly 90% of American households with eight-year-old children own video game devices. However, the use of video games as a potential learning opportunity has not been exploited by schools, parents, or the research community. The Phase I project aims to develop three video game prototypes with progressive levels of challenges to help children explore rational number concepts and apply them to the real world. The prototypes will be based upon game ideas generated by children and their teachers. The effort is intended to discover (1) whether the utilization of children to develop educational games results in games that children find appealing; (2) whether video games can be an effective means of increasing children's interest in and understanding of mathematics; and (3) the flexibility and practicality of using a computerized authoring system to prototype and modify products in a fluid design environment. The learning embodied in the video games will be compatible with the curriculum standards set forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Anticipated Results /Potential Commercial Applications as described by the awardee:Children who play with the video game prototypes will have a better understanding of and attitude toward rational number concepts. The commercial outcome of our research will be to create a model for a line of curriculum based educational video games. The products will be marketed to schools as well as homes.
