Collaborative Research: Investigating Gender Differences in Digital Learning Games with Educational Data Mining

协作研究：利用教育数据挖掘调查数字学习游戏中的性别差异

• 批准号: 2201796
• 负责人: Bruce McLaren
• 金额: $ 105.12万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2201796&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Investigating; Gender; Differences

Despite evidence that gender differences in math achievement have narrowed or disappeared in recent decades, stereotypes about men being better than women at math emerge early in childhood and persist through adulthood. These perceptions appear to influence female students’ interest and performance in math, as well as their pursuit of STEM careers. Given the potential motivational benefits of digital learning games, games might provide a pathway for reducing math anxiety for female students while increasing their self-efficacy and interest in math. This project will explore whether digital learning games can lead to less math anxiety and better learning in female students, while not hurting male student learning. It will study learning with two existing digital learning games: Decimal Point, which teaches foundational math concepts (decimal numbers and operations) to 5th and 6th grade students; and Angle Jungle, which targets a similar age range (4th and 5th graders) and has a similar thematic design (i.e., a game map, cartoon characters), but with different game mechanics, content (angles), and instructional approach. The study will explore how and why Decimal Point has, over the course of several experiments spanning multiple years, consistently produced a learning advantage for female students. In doing so, investigators will identify principles regarding the relationship between gender and game features that can be shared with game developers and used in other games, starting with Angle Jungle.This work will go beyond the traditional gender binary of male and female, analyzing multiple dimensions of gender, including gender identity (e.g., how much students feel like a boy, a girl, both, neither), gender typicality (e.g., How much students like to do the same things as other girls [boys], How much students feel they look like boys [girls]), and gender-typed interests, activities, and traits (e.g., how much a student feels affectionate or adventurous). The study will also investigate two pathways hypothesized to lead to gender differences: first, that the playful features of the games reduce the saliency of the math content, making it less likely to cue math stereotype threat (the stereotype threat hypothesis); and second, that the games’ thematic details are more appealing to learners who identify (more) as females, making the games more engaging for them compared to learners who identify (more) as boys (the engagement hypothesis). In Year 1, educational data mining will be used to infer students’ cognitive and affective processes while playing Decimal Point and compare data to the distinct processes predicted by these two pathways. In Year 2, investigators will assess whether the hypothesized pathways and gender differences replicate in the context of Angle Jungle. In Year 3, hypotheses will be further tested by manipulating Decimal Point’s emphasis on math content in one version of the game and enjoyment and playful features in another. The project will compare learning outcomes between the two versions to more deeply explore the stereotype threat and engagement hypotheses. The ultimate aim of this work is to provide insights into gender-based differences in learning from digital games, providing principles and guidance for other researchers and game designers in developing and revising digital learning games. Thus, the project has the potential to transfer Decimal Point’s success with girls’ learning outcomes to other digital learning games and advance knowledge on the multidimensionality of gender. Furthermore, findings will allow investigators to revise both games and make them available to thousands of late elementary and middle school students across the country. Even during this project, approximately 1,950 students—including many from districts with diverse populations and low math proficiency¬—will benefit from learning with Decimal Point and Angle Jungle.This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent.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.

尽管有证据表明，近几十年来，数学成就的性别差异已变窄或消失，但关于男人在童年早期出现的男性比女性更好的刻板印象，并在成年期间持续存在。这些看法似乎影响了女学生在数学方面的兴趣和表现，以及他们对STEM职业的追求。鉴于数字学习游戏的潜在动机优势，游戏可能为减少女学生的数学动画提供了途径，同时增加了她们对数学的兴趣。该项目将探索数字学习游戏是否会导致女学生减少数学焦虑和更好的学习，同时不伤害男学生学习。它将使用两个现有的数字学习游戏学习学习：小数点，该点将基础数学概念（十进制数字和操作）至5年级和六年级学生；和Angle Jungle，其针对年龄范围（4年级和五年级），具有相似的主题设计（即游戏地图，卡通字符），但具有不同的游戏机制，内容（内容）和教学方法。这项研究将探讨在多年跨越多年的实验过程中，小数点的方法和为什么要为女学生带来学习优势。 In doing so, investigators will identify principles regarding the relationship between gender and game features that can be shared with game developers and used in other games, starting with Angle Jungle.This work will go beyond the traditional gender binary of male and female, analyze multiple dimensions of gender, including gender identity (e.g., how much students feel like a boy, a girl, both, neither), gender typicality (e.g., How much students like to do the same things as other girls [boys],学生觉得自己看起来像男孩[女孩]），以及兴趣，活动和特质（例如，学生感到多么亲切或冒险）。该研究还将调查两种假设导致性别差异的途径：首先，游戏的嬉戏特征降低了数学内容的演出性，从而降低了提示数学刻板印象威胁的可能性（刻板印象威胁假设）；其次，游戏的主题细节对（更多）为女性的学习者更具吸引力，这使他们的游戏更具吸引力，而与确定（更多）男孩（参与假设）的学习者相比，游戏更具吸引力。在第一年，教育数据挖掘将用于推断学生的认知和情感过程，同时发挥小数点，并将数据与这两种途径预测的不同过程进行比较。在第二年，调查人员将评估假设的途径和性别差异是否在第3年复制，将通过操纵小数点对游戏的数学内容的重视以及在另一个版本中的一种版本和另一个版本中的数学内容来进一步检验。该项目将比较两个版本之间的学习成果，以更深入地探讨刻板印象的威胁和参与假设。这项工作的最终目的是提供有关基于性别的数字游戏学习差异的见解，为开发和修订数字学习游戏的其他研究人员和游戏设计师提供原则和指导。这样一来，该项目有可能将小数点的成功成果转移到其他数字学习游戏中，并提高有关性别多维性的知识。此外，调查结果将允许调查人员修改游戏，并使全国成千上万的小学和中学生可用。即使在这个项目中，大约有1,950名学生（包括来自大型人群和数学水平较低的地区的许多学生）将从小数点和角度丛林中学习受益。该项目得到NSF的EHR核心研究（ECR）计划的支持。 ECR计划强调了基本的STEM教育研究，该研究在该领域产生了基础知识。投资是在重要，广泛和持久的关键领域进行的：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大参与STEM以及STEM劳动力的发展。该计划支持积累强有力的证据，以告知努力，以理解，建立理论来解释并提出干预和创新以解决持久性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过评估该基金会的知识分子和更广泛的影响来审查标准。