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Magnitude Museum: Game-based Learning for Nanosizes, Dimensions, and Nanotechnology Terminology

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

Topics in Computing and Information Technology-III

Tagged Division

Computing and Information Technology

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--30781

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/30781

Download Count

521

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Paper Authors

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Reza Kamali-Sarvestani Utah Valley University

biography

Brian Durney Utah Valley University

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Brian Durney teaches computer science at Utah Valley University. His research interests are educational games and game AI.

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Abstract

Magnitude Museum is an educational game that helps students develop a sense of scale and understand the terminology of nanotechnology. Educational and entertainment aspects of the game complement and reinforce each other. Story elements strengthen the learning value of the game and make it more fun. In Magnitude Museum, students explore a 3D virtual museum where each floor of the museum represents an order of magnitude of size in meters. Each floor contains exhibits of objects for that order of magnitude. The top floor (10 to the 26th power) has an exhibit that represents the entire universe and the lowest floors (10 to the -15th) have exhibits about subatomic particles. Puzzles in the game help students develop their abilities in estimating size in orders of magnitude, converting units, and using and defining nanotechnology terminology. The puzzles are generated dynamically and range from simple drill-style puzzles to more complicated story-based puzzles. Teachers can configure the game to focus on certain topics and styles of puzzles. Instructions developed in this paper are designed for Introduction to Nanotechnology course. This game can be potentially used in teaching courses related to sizes and scales. Procedures are designed for experiments conducted in a standard two hours laboratory time. Assessment is being done by survey of students who participated in this optional game experiment. Knowledge of students before and after game practice are measured and reported.

Kamali-Sarvestani, R., & Durney, B. (2018, June), Magnitude Museum: Game-based Learning for Nanosizes, Dimensions, and Nanotechnology Terminology Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30781

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