N-Sector: Neuroscience Mystery Game

N-Sector：神经科学神秘游戏

• 批准号: 8251014
• 负责人: Alvin Rees Midgley
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: NOTABOOK PUBLISHING, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2014-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8251014
• 关键词: Action Potentials; Address; Alzheimer' s Disease; Americas; Attention; Behavioral; Biology; Brain; Brain imaging; Cessation of life; Cognitive; Development; Discipline; Disease; Educational process of instructing; Elements; Ensure; Evaluation; Event; Funding Opportunities; Generations; Individual; Internet; Knowledge; Lead; Leadership; Learning; Legal patent; Libraries; Link; Marketing; Memory; Motivation; Nerve Degeneration; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons; Neurosciences; Online Systems; Outcome; Oxygen; Parkinson Disease; Performance; Phase; Play; Positioning Attribute; Problem Solving; Process; Proteins; Psychological reinforcement; Reading; Role; Schools; Science; Sensory; Series; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Solutions; Stem cells; Students; Surveys; Synapses; System; Technology; Testing; Thinking; United States; Video Games; Work; Writing; Youth; base; brain machine interface; brain remodeling; career; demographics; design; digital; evidence base; high school; innovation; interest; neurogenesis; neurotransmission; science education; synaptic function; teacher

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal describes development and evaluation of an innovative, web-based, educational, mystery video game, N Sector that will engage a wide diversity of high school students in and out of classrooms, increase their knowledge of neuroscience, and promote their interest in neuroscience as a career path. The game will consist of a multi-faceted mystery incorporating shorter mysteries in a sequence of episodes. Each episode will require that the player help one or more neuroscientists solve a compelling problem. Solutions to the problems and puzzles incorporated into each episode will require inquiry of a neuroscience library and evidence-based reasoning facilitated by a patent-pending note-linking system that promotes critical thinking. Solution of the game will require solving the mysteries in the final and all preceding episodes. The episodes will include situations that are interesting to youth and will involve the wide breadth of exciting work that defines modern neuroscience. This includes the new views of brain remodeling or neuroplasticity; how these changes relate to memory as revealed by brain imaging; the role of stem cells in neurogenesis; brain-machine interfaces by which cortical activity can control external events; the role of neuronal death and neurodegeneration; and traditional elements like synaptic function, action potentials, and neurotransmission. These are exciting topics with the potential to motivate youth. Phase I evaluation will be conducted in four, demographically diverse high schools and will be designed to test the hypothesis that a carefully crafted video mystery game can motivate all students to learn about neuroscience regardless of demographics; that it can succeed while requiring substantial reading and reasoning about topics with substantive content; and that it can significantly enhance the interest of players in one or more sub-disciplines of neuroscience. Additionally evidence will be sought as to cognitive and motivational mechanisms responsible for observed outcomes, e.g. emphasis on content mastery versus game performance. If this motivating but simultaneously educationally serious video game supports our hypothesis, wide deployment could have an impact on interest and understanding of neuroscience and, by extension of the approach, perhaps to science teaching in a broader context. Combining a motivating video game with serious, inquiry-based library searching of content and using the discovered evidence to determine which of alternative hypotheses are supported and which are ruled out is innovative, original and unique. N Sector will be sold to school districts and individual schools through a distributor, and to individuals through the Internet on a subscription basis with password-protected access. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: With its leadership position slipping, the United States of America is facing an educational crisis that demands serious consideration of innovative approaches able to engage and motivate a wide diversity of youth to learn and think critically. N Sector directly addresses this need by creating an innovative, web- based, educational video game that will appeal to the digital native generation, teach the astonishing ways that neuroscientists are uncovering how our brains work, and lead players to become excited about neuroscience and interested in the field. If anticipated outcomes are realized, the approach could be extended to other fields of science and teaching.)

描述（由申请人提供）：该提案描述了对创新，基于网络的，教育，神秘的视频游戏的发展和评估，N部门将吸引大量的高中生在课堂上和课堂上，增加对神经科学的了解，并促进他们对神经科学的兴趣。该游戏将包括一个多方面的谜团，将较短的谜团结合在一系列情节中。每个情节都需要玩家帮助一个或多个神经科学家解决一个引人注目的问题。每个情节中纳入的问题和难题的解决方案将需要询问神经科学库以及由促进批判性思维的专利注释链接系统促进的基于证据的推理。游戏的解决方案将需要在最后一集和所有上一集中解决奥秘。这些情节将包括对年轻人有趣的情况，并涉及定义现代神经科学的激动人心的广泛范围。这包括大脑重塑或神经塑性的新观点；这些变化与大脑成像所揭示的记忆如何相关；干细胞在神经发生中的作用；皮质活动可以控制外部事件的脑机界面；神经元死亡和神经变性的作用；以及传统元素，例如突触功能，动作电位和神经传递。这些是令人兴奋的主题，具有激励青年的潜力。第一阶段的评估将在四个人口统计学上多样化的高中进行，并将旨在检验以下假设：精心制作的视频神秘游戏可以激励所有学生学习神经科学，而不论人口统计学知识如何；它可以在需要实质性内容的主题进行大量阅读和推理的同时取得成功；并且它可以显着增强玩家在神经科学的一个或多个子学科中的兴趣。另外，将寻求证据表明导致观察结果的认知和动机机制，例如强调内容精通与游戏性能。如果这种激励但同时在教育上认真的视频游戏支持我们的假设，那么广泛的部署可能会影响对神经科学的兴趣和理解，并且通过扩展方法，也许可以在更广泛的背景下对科学教学。将激励的视频游戏与认真的，基于查询的图书馆搜索内容相结合，并使用发现的证据来确定哪些替代假设得到了支持，哪些被排除在外是创新的，原始的和独特的。 n部门将通过分销商出售给学区和各个学校，并通过互联网以订阅方式出售给个人 基于密码保护的访问。 公共卫生相关性：在其领导地位下滑的情况下，美利坚合众国面临着一场教育危机，该危机需要认真考虑能够参与和激励各种各样的年轻人进行批判性学习和思考的创新方法。 n部门通过创建创新的，基于网络的教育视频游戏来直接满足这一需求，该游戏将吸引数字本土一代，教导神经科学家正在揭露我们的大脑的工作方式，并引导玩家对神经科学感到兴奋并对该领域感兴趣。如果实现预期的结果，则该方法可以扩展到其他科学和教学领域。）