| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 24, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | April 13, 2023 |
| Award Number: | 1934087 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Chia Shen
cshen@nsf.gov (703)292-8447 DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2019 |
| End Date: | February 29, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $530,459.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $635,553.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2022 = $105,094.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
506 S WRIGHT ST URBANA IL US 61801-3620 (217)333-2187 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
506 S. Wright Street Urbana IL US 61801-3620 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
STEM + Computing (STEM+C) Part, ITEST-Inov Tech Exp Stu & Teac |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001920DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Future challenges that we face as a nation such as the growing need to optimize agricultural output and management of extreme weather conditions will demand armies of imaginative scientists and engineers, equipped with a robust understanding of the ways in which scientific and computational knowledge converge to enhance problem solving. Many of these future scientists and engineers are currently children. The goal of this project is to investigate best ways to prepare the youth to confront future science and engineering problems. A team of educational researchers, science teachers, and scientists will investigate the design of educational digital environments to promote engagement, interest, and learning in computation and science. Middle school aged learners will be presented with science problems inspired by real-world challenges that are hard to solve and particularly suited to computational solutions with creative thinking skills. Learners will be immersed in a "sandbox" virtual environment that encourages experimentation, creativity, and collaboration. By challenging learners in novel ways, the project seeks to provide learners a glimpse of the complexities of the natural world and the opportunities that lie ahead for creativity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). This project is funded by the STEM + Computing (STEM+C) program that supports research and development to understand the integration of computing and computational thinking in STEM teaching and learning to prepare the current and future workforce.
Over the course of two years, researchers will investigate the design of virtual scenarios and their efficacy for (1) enabling and promoting the simultaneous learning of science and computational thinking, (2) triggering interest in STEM, and (3) encouraging innovation and creativity in solving relevant and futuristic problems. Research will be conducted in afterschool and summer camp settings at three principle locations: the Champaign-Urbana Fab Lab, College of Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Western Center Academy (WCA), an innovative STEM school serving children in 6th-12th grade in Hemet, CA. Scenarios will draw from a range of different areas of STEM, including biology, ecology, agriculture, and civil engineering. Each scenario will first undergo two iterations with small groups of learners, followed by a larger scale evaluation at the end of the project focusing on the entire set of scenarios and interconnections between them. Science and computer science teachers at WCA as well as project scientific advisors will provide guidance and input at all stages focusing on key aspects of the scenarios, including fidelity of the underlying simulation models and fine-tuning the right level of difficulty. To assess computational thinking skills, relevant scientific knowledge, and interest, a mixed methods approach will be adopted. Specifically, learners will complete short surveys, knowledge assessments, and be interviewed during and after the intervention. Log file data from the simulation will allow researchers to investigate relevant learner behaviors such as what revisions learners make to their solutions and how often they experiment with different techniques. To assess creativity, researchers will identify novel aspects of solutions and scientific advisors on the project will rate different solutions for innovative potential. Participants will be invited to create showcases and capture video of their solutions for sharing with friends, family, and the public. By measuring changes in knowledge, interest, and use of a wide range of techniques throughout the experiences, research will reveal whether and to what extent the scenarios engage learners and pinpoint specific scenario properties and features that are most influential. These outcomes will lead to advancement in knowledge in best practices for informal learning. They will also inform future designs of educational simulations that foster STEM learning and better prepare learners to address critical challenges that lie ahead for the United States.
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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This STEM+C project worked from the belief that future generations of scientists and engineers will face challenges of growing complexity that will not only require strong STEM knowledge and skills, but also an ability to solve problems creatively, computationally, and with a heightened comfort with uncertainty. Leveraging the popular game Minecraft as a platform for teaching integrated computer science and STEM for middle school learners, the primary goal was to cultivate creative problem-solving skills by having students tackle challenging scientific scenarios using computational thinking and coding. Over five years, the project developed and refined a curriculum that combined instruction in basic programming concepts with open-ended STEM and data science challenges implemented in customized Minecraft worlds. The overarching purpose was to investigate how game-based learning could simultaneously build coding proficiency and spark interest in STEM fields by connecting computational skills to relevant real-world problems and the importance of data in modern society.
The research focused on three main questions:
- How can Minecraft be effectively used as an integrated learning environment for STEM and computational thinking?
- To what extent do relevant scientific problems create opportunities for computational creativity that complement traditional STEM education
- How might engaging with these challenges trigger broader interest in STEM fields?
The project utilized Minecraft's ComputerCraft mod, which allows programming of in-game "turtle" robots using the Lua language. This provided a sandbox environment where students could write code to solve increasingly complex STEM scenarios. The approach emphasized a "computing first" model, building basic coding skills before applying them to scientific problems. Data collection methods included pre/post computational thinking assessments, surveys, interviews, and analysis of students' code using a custom snapshot tool. Camps were conducted in various formats (in-person, online, different durations) with diverse student populations to explore optimal conditions.
Key findings demonstrated consistent, significant gains in computational thinking skills across all camp iterations, regardless of format or student background. Notably, students were able to achieve sufficient coding proficiency within 2-3 days to engage meaningfully with complex STEM challenges. Qualitative evidence from interviews and observations revealed that participants could readily connect their Minecraft problem-solving experiences to real-world scientific issues, STEM careers, and the role of data-driven decisions in society. The project also yielded insights into effective curriculum design, showing benefits of scaffolded instruction and the importance of balancing coding basics with open-ended exploration. While truly innovative solutions were less common than anticipated, many students displayed creative applications of computational thinking to scientific problems. The research highlighted both the potential and limitations of using Minecraft for integrated STEM and CS education, providing valuable guidance for future game-based learning initiatives in this domain.
This STEM+C project produced numerous educational resources, software tools, and educator materials, all available on the Univeresity of Illinois STEM+C Website.
Last Modified: 07/19/2024
Modified by: H Chad Lane
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