SBIR-STTR Award

This SBIR Phase I project will produce a digital + physical game for 6-10 year olds that fosters computational thinking practices through collaboration, listening, and tinkering through play with music. It is widely recognized that to be ready for the future, today?s students need to develop the ability to think critically, identify and solve complex problems, communicate clearly about their thinking, and work collaboratively with a team. Computational thinking (CT) is the core of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and is about developing a set of problem-solving heuristics, approaches and habits of mind. Collaboration and creativity, now seen as cross-cutting 21st Century skills, are also viewed as CT practices. Not all learners are motivated to learn CT through traditional programming contexts, even those designed for young learners. Moreover, there are a lack of learning environments to engage children in tinkering--trying things out and debugging--finding out why things didn?t happen as expected. And, the vast majority of existing CT learning environments for young children do not explicitly support the development of positive attitudes towards problem solving, confidence in dealing with complexity, and communicating and collaborating with others to achieve a goal. This product will enhance students? grasp of collaborative problem solving and ultimately computational thinking by engaging them in fundamental concepts that unite computing and music.The core technical innovation of this project is the design and development methodology that will lead to the creation of a transformative learning platform in its approach to learning outcomes, collaborative problem solving, and engaging game play. This multi-user, multi-device experience relies on a new approach to collaborative problem solving, leveraging multiple user inputs responsive to group tinkering and debugging. Players must employ critical listening, tinkering, debugging, and communication to identify pieces of music that are off, and work collaboratively to adjust controllers to get the music back to its original state. This game not only requires problem solving across scales (debugging smaller parts of the puzzle to get to an overall solution) but also requires collaboration and communication, something largely missing in educational games for children. This phase will focus on the build of the digital component of the game as well as conduct research and development around physical controllers. Additionally, this phase of development will research the balance of visual, audio and haptic feedback mechanisms to help players through frustrating moments, foster player communication and collaboration, and test visual design for the most effective feedback.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to enable the learning of Computational Thinking, which is widely viewed as the new literacy of the 21st Century and has become an important initiative in educational research, policy, and practice and represents a specific set of problem-solving skills applicable in any domain to create solutions. Teaching this kind of problem solving is difficult; problems in the real world are complex and ill-defined and require the ability to apply different strategies to be solved. The proposed solution provides learners a space to practice productive struggle with the concepts of algorithms and trying new solutions in concert with development of communication skills. Moreover, this learning environment will support students as they practice additional skills critical to their future, including collaboration, teamwork, leveraging one another’s expertise to find a solution, and communicating ideas. This platform will scale to accommodate deep learning experiences in interdisciplinary problem-solving, and will revolutionize game-based learning through advances in physical/digital integration and collaborative problem solving. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will research, design and develop a flexible physical/digital learning platform targeting students in grades 3-5, focusing on learning collaborative problem solving, computational thinking, tinkering and debugging practices. Key technology objectives include development of a machine learning-powered adaptive game environment, refinement of the hardware system design and development of the teacher dashboard tools necessary to enable real-time teaching support and assessment. The adaptive learning environment will enable learners to participate in collaborative problem-solving while engaging in Computational Thinking practices that promote productive struggle, critical thinking and reflection. This project will advance the field of education technology by pushing innovation in designing collaborative connected play (digital/physical) solutions for classroom considerations and use; designing adaptivity that supports learners at the individual and group level; reimagining teacher tools for real-time support, insights and ability to manage multiple groups simultaneously; and developing best approaches in tangible interfaces to promote learning. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.