Pre-Service Teachers Learn to Teach with Serious Games

Michele W. McColgan, Robert J. Colesante Albert G. Andrade Siena College Christian Brothers Academy

Abstract new candidates for teaching to model and apply tech- rious games or game-based learning must have both nology in their engagement with students (CAEP, 2015). entertainment and pedagogical value. Zyda (2005), The goal of this study was to determine whether a Additionally, the International Society for Technology in provided a definition, “Serious game: a mental contest, game-based immersion experience in an introductory Education (ISTE) released new standards for teachers played with a computer in accordance with specific rules, undergraduate course in education had an impact on stu- in 2018. These new standards emphasize the need for that uses entertainment to further government or corpo- dents’ perceptions of their skills, attitudes, and confidence teachers to scaffold student learning with technologies, rate training, education, health, public policy, and stra- using games for teaching academic content. Fifty-five and in turn, the need for teacher education programs to tegic communication objectives” (p. 25). Serious games students with an interest in education participated in the prepare future teachers to create student-centered learn- include games developed to be educational tools and study. They developed game-based lesson plans, assess- ing with technology. those that were developed primarily as entertainment, ments, and videos on topics of their choice in Minecraft. Preparing teachers to meet these standards is not but have been adapted or redesigned for educational We used a mixed methods design using quantitative just about training them to use Google classrooms or purposes. (pre-post test comparisons) and qualitative data (reflec- new apps, like Kahoot!. The challenge goes beyond Use of games to teach academic content is a promis- tion essays) to examine the impact of the curriculum on merely adapting to change. A frontier in educational ing avenue of technology use to promote motivation and students’ preparation to design technology-based lessons technology that is emerging in public consciousness, engagement. Educational versions of popular programs for use in middle and secondary school classrooms. Most called “serious gaming,” challenges teachers to connect are cropping up with games such as MinecraftEDU, students chose to create lessons in STEM topics regardless their instruction to the everyday games students use in KerbalEDU, CivilizationEDU, and games developed for of their declared major. At the start of the course, the stu- their lives (Takeuchi, 2014). From the perspective of “seri- STEAM for schools (Lorence, 2015; Donnell, 2013). The dents were very skeptical of using game-based technolo- ous gaming,” the real challenge is how to take a technol- number of conferences specifically about games in edu- gies in the classroom. Pre-post tests and reflection essays ogy that students currently use for their own enjoyment, cation is growing to support teachers and spread ideas provide strong support for changes in confidence, skills, and link it to meaningful academic content and objec- about gaming and how it can apply to traditional sub- and attitudes during the semester. tives, without losing the appeal of the technology. jects (Games in Education Conference, 2017). Keywords: STEM, Minecraft, pre-service, education, In this study, we describe the design and evaluation Minecraft is a versatile game for teachers to use in serious games, game-based learning of a project in an introductory education class for students an educational way. Though it was created purely for with an interest in teaching. The project was designed to entertainment purposes, it is already in use all over the Technologies are rapidly changing and so are stan- prepare students to use Minecraft as a part of their les- world as an educational tool in a vast array of content ar- dards for how we as educators need to respond. Students son planning in a wide array of content areas. Over three eas. It has open access to its code, allowing users to make who begin college this year will find the landscape of semesters, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, and Fall 2016, 55 stu- modifications (also called Mods), and there are a multi- technology has changed by the time they complete their dents in Siena College’s Education 210 Course, Issues in tude of these available for those with less skill. There are college degree and enter the classroom as teachers. In Contemporary American Education, participated in the thousands of YouTube videos and helpful websites that 2015, President Obama initiated the ConnectHome proj- same sequence of experiences designed to help them use provide answers to do anything imaginable in Minecraft. ect to bring all Americans into this rapidly changing envi- Minecraft for teaching academic content. Students com- It has also been used for research in a number of areas ronment and have access to digital opportunities (White pleted a pre-post test survey assessing their skill using because of its versatility and ease of modification (Nebel, House, 2015). The US Department of Education in 2016 technology, and their confidence in using technology to 2016). With Microsoft’s purchase of Minecraft in 2014, published their Future Ready Learning Report with goals create lessons for middle- or high- school-aged students. they’ve invested in the creation of Minecraft Education for technology infrastructure that ensure that all teachers In Fall 2016, 43 students wrote a reflection essay on their Edition for use in schools. and students: be connected to high-speed internet in and experiences with technology in the course. This assign- Romero and Barma (2015) report that the pre- out of school, have access to mobile devices to connect ment was added to the course in Fall 2016 to provide a service teachers in their study identified challenges in students and teachers for collaboration, and have high free-response writing assignment to describe the impact using an existing game, repurposing an existing game, quality digital learning content (U.S. Department of Edu- of the project in their own words. and creating a new game as a barrier. Li, et. al. (2012) cation Office of Educational Technology, 2016a, p. 65). and Akcaoglu and Kale (2014) report that immersion Connecting students and teachers to technologies Serious Games impacted their pre-service teachers’ perceptions related is not enough. In 2015, the Council for Accreditation of In the world of education, the terms “serious games” to challenges, problems solving, and attitudes toward Teacher Preparation (CAEP) issued standards that require and “game-based learning” are used synonymously. Se- gaming and design.

19 Journal of STEM Education Volume 19 • Issue 2 April-June 2018 Background on the Minecraft Project Procedures and highlight any changes you noticed about: how In Fall of 2015, an introductory course in teacher Students in the study were enrolled in Educ 210 : Is- the classroom environment changed over time, how education was redesigned to prepare pre-service students sues in Contemporary American Education, taught by the you changed. What were you like in the beginning to use new technologies in planning lessons for use in second author. In the first week of classes, students were and how did you change overtime. What did you think schools. The course was organized to provide exposure informed that the course would include a project using about the use of Minecraft technology for teaching? and training in a new technology. Students were also Minecraft to create lessons for middle and high school Did that change? Did you learn or discover anything taught how to write lesson plans and assessments. Mine- students. They were informed that data collected during on your own (about your topic, about Minecraft, about craft was selected as the gaming environment because of the process would not be used for grading, but would be teaching)? its versatility, popularity and familiarity among school- used to provide the instructor with feedback on the im- Finally, summarize your overall impression - what did aged students. The gaming environment is designed as pact of the project. you learn about the use of technology like Minecraft a “sandbox,” meaning it is a space in which a player can for teaching (pros, cons, challenges, possibilities, collect material and build with it. Unlike a sandbox, the Data Sources and Analysis etc.)? Your response should be at least 750 words. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted with a game provides access to many different virtual materials, The technology survey. focus at the explicit / semantic levels of the essays (Braun & which become building blocks for use in the game. These A technology survey was completed before and Clarke, 2006). This allowed for an analysis of student percep- raw materials can be used to create new materials within after the Minecraft project as a way for the instructor to tions of Minecraft that were not attained through student the game. evaluate the effectiveness of the project designed as a surveys. The Minecraft project lasted 7-weeks. There were 14 first experience for students in an education course to After becoming initially familiar with the data, the classes of 1 hour and 25 minutes, or approximately 21 gain experience using technology tools for education and primary author grouped segments of the essays based hours of in-class time devoted to the project. During the to design and create educational lessons using a serious on commonality across comments from students. These first class, students practiced playing Minecraft in a tuto- game, Minecraft. It was designed to align with the objec- formed the initial codes whose collation led to three broad rial world. Next, they experienced two example lessons tives of the course and the Minecraft project in particular. themes: 1) Positive Change in the Classroom Environment in physics. These were taught by physics students, who It included questions about students’ attitudes, time us- as a result of using Minecraft, 2) Positive Change in Student had led the lessons with middle and high school students. ing social media, time spent on games and gaming with Beliefs about using Minecraft as a Form of Teaching, and The remaining classes allowed students to develop their technology, and skill with technology. Responses ranged 3) Barriers to Adoption of using Minecraft as a Method of Minecraft environment, create their online assessments from 0 to 4 with 0 representing the “never” or “not at all” Teaching. in Google Forms, write detailed lesson plans shared in choices and 4 representing the ‘all my free time” or “very Initial codes were identified as themes, if 100% of Google Docs, and create movies to orient players to the competent” choices. students made a related comment. Every student made a challenges in their lessons. The last week was spent pre- Students responded to four items forming a scale on comment reflecting how the use of Minecraft led to a posi- senting their lessons, playing through the lessons of other their confidence with technology. The first question is, tive classroom environment, though in somewhat different groups, and providing feedback to other groups using “How confident are you in learning new technologies?” ways. For example, they discussed how engaged they felt Google Forms. During the process, faculty and mentors The second question is, “How confident are you in prepar- using Minecraft in class as compared to a typical classroom, with expertise in Minecraft and in lesson planning with ing and creating activities with new technologies?” The while others compared their group work as more positive Minecraft were on-hand to assist with basic skills, answer third question is, “How confident are you in developing than typical group-based projects. Each of these examples questions, and brainstorm with student groups. a lesson plan for using technology?” The last question is, represents how the experience positively impacted them The majority of lessons created by student groups “How confident are you in guiding student use of new personally as a student in the classroom. were in STEM content areas, such as physics, math, earth technologies?” The Likert-Scale Responses ranged from Secondary processing of coding within these broad science, anatomy, and others. In addition to the STEM les- “not at all” to “very confident.” Alpha reliability for the categories led to sub-themes. A set of codes was identified sons, lessons were also created in subject areas including scale was 0.86. Scores ranged from 0 to 16, with a mean as a sub-theme, if 15% or more of students mentioned or Spanish, business, psychology, history, English, and art. of 10.3 and a standard deviation of 3.4 (see Table 1). identified the idea. Results are presented in Table 2 and or- We used a repeated measure ANOVA to compare the ganized by theme. Examples from students’ comments are Methodology pre-post test results for their general attitudes toward provided for each sub-theme. The relative length of these technology, time spent with social media, time spent Sample sections roughly reflects the strength of emphasis in the gaming, specific attitudes about their confidence teach- Fifty-five students completed the pre-post test sur- collection of essays. Positive change in their acquisition of ing with the technology, and their self-reported skill level vey for inclusion in the study. They were from 18 different skills/knowledge is the longest, and it was mentioned most with technology. Gender was investigated as a between- declared majors, and 4 undeclared areas of interest. Sixty- often in the essays. seven percent (n=37) were female. Most were freshmen subjects factor. (38%, n = 21) or sophomores (35%, n = 19). Twenty percent (n = 11) were juniors and 7% (n = 4) were se- Written reflections. Results niors. Forty-four percent (n = 24) were in an education At the conclusion of the Minecraft project, 43 stu- We report the results in three sections. The first compares the related major or major leading to education certification dents (2 sections in Fall 2016) completed a written reflec- pre-post test scores using the technology survey. The second (Chemistry Education, History or History Education, Arts tion designed to allow students to describe their experi- section summarizes the frequency of sub-themes from the Education, etc.). Ten percent (n = 5) were in a STEM- ence with new technologies and its impact in their own reflections using percentages of students who mentioned the focused major (1 each in Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, words, writing an average of 791 words (SD = 95). The idea. Finally, the third section summarizes the major themes and 2 in Computer Science). following was given as a guide: and ideas in the reflection essays and provides examples Describe your experience with technology in Educ 210 through student quotes to illustrate each theme / sub-theme.

20 Journal of STEM Education Volume 19 • Issue 2 April-June 2018 tion between team members as well as other members of their class.

Sample Statements for Theme 1 Acquisition of knowledge / skills • “I actually took a lot away from the example les- sons, especially the physics one. That was really a turning point for me. Once I personally learned stuff from a Minecraft lesson, I understood the infinite possibilities of the game as a tool for education.” • “We had some sample lessons about physics, and I feel like by playing the Minecraft games, the mate- rial and lesson was much easier to understand. I had no interest in physics, but after the lessons and play- ing Minecraft my interest in physics went up.” • “When I was building my world, I learned a lot about my topic. I think it would be a really good idea to have kids make a world about a topic and then share their world with the class. This would Table 1: Means and Standard deviations of technology survey items by gender and time. build an interest to all kids, hopefully even the hard to reach student.” Pre-Post Test Technology Survey • “Through using this technology in the classroom students in the Fall of 2016. Students were asked to write Table 1 shows the means and the standard deviations I learned a lot about Minecraft, and teaching. I about any changes they experienced in the classroom for each of the survey questions and for the confidence learned how to effectively use Minecraft in the while developing lessons in Minecraft and whether they with new technologies scale. Mean scores were higher classroom and how to play the game of Minecraft. experienced a change in their beliefs about using technol- at the posttest than the pretest for items on the survey I can now develop a lesson plan using this technolo- ogy such as Minecraft for teaching. Three broad themes and for the confidence scale. Repeated measure ANOVAs gy. . . I learned how to gain attention from students, emerged in coding the responses. were significant for differences in perceptions of skill us- the importance of teamwork in the classroom, and • Positive change in the classroom as a student using ing technology, F(1,53) = 10.03, p = .003, η2 = .16, and how to use technology effectively.” Minecraft; confidence with new technologies, F(1,53) = 27.82, p < • “As we started playing, I picked up the basics quickly • Positive change in beliefs about using Minecraft as a .001, η2 = .34. The effect of the curriculum on time spent and easily. I liked that the professor just let us go form of teaching; gaming was nonsignificant, but marginal, F(1,53) = 3.03, around on our own. We were able to explore all the • Barriers to adoption of using Minecraft as a method p = .09, η2 = .05. The effect on time spent with social different opportunities Minecraft has to offer. By of teaching. media was non significant, F(1,53) = .08, p = .78, and the end of this lesson, I was able to build a world Positive change in the classroom as a student the effect on general attitudes toward new technologies to teach students about Newton’s three laws of mo- using Minecraft. was non significant, F(1,53) = 1.65, p =.21. tion.” When students wrote about the positive change in Engagement. their own experience in the classroom using Mine- Gender • “I even saw myself change as a person in class. I craft to create lessons, several ideas emerged: Between subjects effect of gender was nonsignificant am usually a quiet one who doesn’t like to talk or • acquisition of knowledge / skills (lesson content, for confidence with new technology, F(1,53) = .014, p = participate…I saw myself as more interactive and playing Minecraft, making lessons in Minecraft, and .91, perception of skill using new technologies, F(1,53) engaged in the material. I no longer hated going to creating lessons with technology); = .003, p = .96, and general attitudes toward new class and was actually looking forward to class.” • engagement (engagement learning the game and technologies, F(,1.53) = .006, p = .94. The effect was • “I experienced how being left to my own initiative creating lessons); significant for time spent gaming, F(1,53) = 35.07, p < motivated me to learn more and immerse myself 2 • collaborative interaction (learning from and teach- .001, η = .40. Males reported using technology to play more in the subject than if I was simply being lec- ing others and creating the world in their teams). games at higher rates than women. The effect of gender tured.” Students reported that they acquired content knowl- on social media use was non significant, but marginally • “At some points I did not want to leave class because 2 edge developing their lessons or completing lessons cre- so, F(1,53) = 3.79, p = .057, η = .067. Women reported I was so engaged.” ated by other groups in the class. They learned Minecraft using social media somewhat more frequently than men. • “I noticed the classroom going from quiet and bor- skills to play the game and create lessons. They increased This aligns with findings from literature on gender and ing to fun and more communicative…it broke their comfort and confidence using technology. Students technology use (Ogletree, 2007; Barker, 2009). There was down this wall between the teacher and student. identified engagement as a very important factor for no interaction of gender with pre-post test effect in any of It was no longer the normal classroom, it was a themselves while they were creating lessons. Students the analyses (p > .15). classroom that was more engaged in the material found the classroom environment changed from one with being taught. Minecraft made the classroom more no one knowing each other and only communicating and Written Reflections connected and way more fun.” Forty-three written reflections were collected from receiving guidance from the instructor to one of collabora-

21 Journal of STEM Education Volume 19 • Issue 2 April-June 2018 Collaborative Interaction. Providing students with opportunities to learn technol- not only keep them engaged at the task at hand but • “While using Minecraft the environment of the ogy skills was identified as important. very well make them want to go to school and learn. ” classroom drastically changed from the beginning • “Minecraft engages students and teachers more, it towards the end. In the beginning, not many peo- Sample Statements for Theme 2 provides a completely new and more effective way ple knew how to use the game and most people Applicability to many content areas of learning, plus it merges learning with fun.” were very frustrated. As a class, not many people • “I was intrigued with the endless possibilities and • “Using technology, especially playing games, is knew each other and people were uncomfortable the teamwork that went around the entire activity. mostly more entertaining and captivating than answering questions or talking to the people at Minecraft is a great way to teach…[S]omeone can listening to a lecture. Enjoying a lesson greatly in- their table… [T]he class became closer by using teach about a topic that may not be typically acces- creases the amount a student will learn from it.” teamwork to get through different tasks. In the sible to everyday lessons, but is still able to allow Collaborative Interaction for their future students beginning of using Minecraft when the majority of students to get a firm grasp of the concept is truly • “My favorite part of using Minecraft was being as- the class did not know what to do, the people who remarkable.” signed to the group projects. By working altogether, knew what to do helped everyone else and taught • “The game is a powerful tool and should be used by I definitely felt more relaxed and free to work because us how to use Minecraft and made us feel more teachers. Minecraft can be used to teach almost any I didn’t feel pressured…I realized from this exercise comfortable.” subject and is so simple to use. In our class, we saw that allowing students to work in an environment • “In the beginning of the semester, no one really almost every subject come to life in Minecraft, that where they feel free and safe to perform is the best talked a lot in class and it was mostly the professor was truly amazing to see! There was something in way they can learn and retain new concepts/ideas/ who talked while the students listened…Mine- every Minecraft world that stood out to me…My terms.” craft was fairly new, so the friendly and welcom- skepticism from the beginning went away, and I Students need to learn to use technology to be successful ing aspect of the environment came out. It made became aware of how beneficial Minecraft can be • “I can completely see the benefits…It allows for it easy to ask questions and work together to learn for teaching. I learned a lot about different subjects, the students to keep up with the ever changing about technology and Minecraft itself. Eventually, Minecraft, and education.” technological advances in society. Technology is ev- when we started making our own lesson plans, • “It was interesting to see how different people took erywhere in children’s lives…” the environment was more familiar and the groups the lesson and made it their own. I really enjoyed Barriers to adoption of using Minecraft as a worked with each other to get the task done.” the WWII lesson. I found it different than the oth- method of teaching. • “In the beginning of [the] lesson in Minecraft I ers, since most everyone else’s were science- and Students did not expand upon the barriers for adoption would rush by obstacles and lesson pretty easily. I math-based. The History lesson was really interest- to the same degree that they expanded on the positive quickly learned that the whole point of these train- ing to see and expanded my thoughts about what changes they experienced in the lesson. They mentioned ing missions was to help people who did not know Minecraft could teach.” five different barriers, listed below in order of most men- Minecraft so I decided to help others out. And to • “My initial thoughts of Minecraft used for teaching tioned to least mentioned, including the steep learning be honest, I felt a lot better about myself. Helping were skeptical. The physics lesson about quantum curve, time, and complexity for teachers to learn the game out others who weren’t familiar with the game felt mechanics in Minecraft was where my mind was and develop lessons, student distractibility, and the pos- pretty good and also helped me make friends in the changed. The fact the blocks moved when your sible complexity for students to learn the game. class.” character looked a different way was pretty impres- Positive change in beliefs about using Mine- sive. If a lesson was taught using problems that Sample Statements for Theme 3 craft as a form of teaching. could only be solved if you understood the content Barriers for teachers When students wrote about the positive change in in Minecraft, I knew from then on a lot more could • “To begin with, I was extremely confused when try- their beliefs about using Minecraft in a 5th -12th come from Minecraft lessons.” ing to function in the game and would become frus- grade classroom, several types of ideas emerged: • “Difficult concepts that can only be imagined in a trated when something was not working or I could • applicability of Minecraft as a method for teaching normal classroom can be discovered in Minecraft. My not perform a certain task.” generally and teaching content specifically, own lesson, which taught slope, enabled students to • “The only challenges I see is the time needed to • engagement of students, visualize a negative slope in a more real way than if make the world…If a teacher is pressed for time • collaborative interaction of students, and they simply had been taught in the two dimensional and has no free time at home, this may be difficult.” • importance of learning technology skills. world of paper and blackboards. Because it enables Barriers for students Participants identified changes in their beliefs both students to enter a three dimensional world it enables • “It’s very easy for children to forget the purpose of an about using technology, gaming, and Minecraft in partic- teachers to teach three dimensional concepts.” assignment. Children are also often distracted in the ular, to teach educational content. Participants identified world, or they neglect looking at in game instruc- technology and Minecraft as an effective tool to teach Engagement tions or tasks.” many different content areas. They wrote that Minecraft • “With the use of this technology in the classroom it • “It may be difficult to teach a lesson when students would increase engagement in learning over traditional encourages the students to be more engaged in the have no previous experience in Minecraft. The learn- methods. Collaborative interaction was identified as lesson and provides them with a creative outlook. ing curve can distract from the real objectives of the important for students in schools to experience. They Students have a hard time paying attention to lec- lesson.” wrote that collaboration - working together to achieve a tures so by using Minecraft it allows the students to common goal, which came about naturally in their use of work hands on and stay interested on the topic.” Sub-theme Frequency Analysis Minecraft in teams, would help students in schools learn • “I think Minecraft is a great way to teach kids. It will A summary of the coding of themes and sub-themes teamwork, problem solving, and communication skills.

22 Journal of STEM Education Volume 19 • Issue 2 April-June 2018 stated that Minecraft is a new and different way to teach. In comparing the frequency of males and females reporting each code, only two of twelve were significant. Women were more likely to identify the learning curve to play Minecraft as a barrier than men, t(42) = 3.10, p = 0.004. Men were more likely than women to identify student dis- tractibility as a barrier, t(42) = -2.42, p = 0.02. The effect of gender on complexity of using the game for the student was non significant, but marginally so, t(42) = -1.94, p = .059. Men were more likely than women to identify the complexity of the game for the student as a barrier. We found statistically significant relationships between the pre-post test surveys and the written reflections, but there were only a few. Students who reported that they spent significant time gaming at the pretest, were less likely to write statements indicating a negative mindset for using Minecraft due to the complexity of the game (r = -.309, p < .05), but were marginally more likely to write about their general positive attitudes about technology (r = .256, p = .098). Students who reported that they spend a significant Figure 1. Percentage of male and female students that wrote about each sub-theme from the written amount of time using social media at the pretest were more reflections. The abbreviations are given in the Table 2. likely to write positively about the engaging environment created in a classroom when using Minecraft (r = .307, p < .05). We did not find differences in the number nor types of barriers identified by level of confidence or skill at the pretest or posttest (p > .10).

Discussion This study examined the experiences of college stu- dents participating in an introductory education course designed for future teachers to understand the role of new technologies in teaching. Using quantitative and qualita- tive research methods, the researchers sought to describe the impact of the course on students’ perceptions of their skills and confidence with technology. The present study Table 2. Abbreviations of Sub-Themes. revealed several unique findings that demonstrate how a brief experience in an introductory education course can is given in Figure 1. Abbreviations used in Figure 1 and the start of the class they believed that Minecraft had no edu- impact students’ preparation to use new technologies for corresponding themes are listed in Table 2. Over 80% of cational value. Twenty-six percent said they had a positive the development of lessons in a variety of content areas. students identified all of the 3 subcodes of positive change mindset and liked the idea of using Minecraft in class, but The extent of the change that students experienced in their experience in the classroom using Minecraft to couldn’t imagine it having any educational value. Seven- from the beginning to the end of their course was not ex- develop lessons with acquisition of skills mentioned by ty-two percent had a negative mindset and believed it pected. Qualitative data indicate that nearly all students 95% of students. Fifty-six percent identified all of the 4 was too complex or a very bad idea. Only one student of were strongly skeptical of using Minecraft for teaching subcodes of positive change in their beliefs about using the 43 that wrote reflections believed at the start of the at the beginning of the course. By the end, they were Minecraft as a method of teaching. Minecraft’s applicabil- course that creating lessons in Minecraft had educational describing the benefits over barriers and advocating for ity for teaching and the opportunity for student engage- value. Ninety-five percent of the 43 students also reported the use of Minecraft in middle and high school class- ment was identified by more than 93% of students. Forty- that they were surprised at their change of heart. rooms. Pre-post comparisons showed moderate effects one percent of students identified all of the 5 subcodes of Though students weren’t asked the question directly for changes in students’ perceptions of their skills and for barriers to the adoption of using Minecraft as a method to in the writing prompt for their reflection assignment, 7% their confidence in using technology to design instruction. teach with student distractibility and the learning curve of students stated that they would use Minecraft in their We also found that young men reported higher levels of to learn Minecraft being identified most often. Based classroom, while 19% said that teachers should be us- game use, and young women reported somewhat more on these values, students responded positively to using ing Minecraft in classrooms. Fourteen percent of students social media use. Both groups were skeptical at the start Minecraft in a ratio of 3.5 positives to 1 barrier, which is made positive general comments about the use of technol- and both reported their change similarly in their skills and representative of their descriptions in the writing samples. ogy in the classroom, 30% said that Minecraft should be confidence during the project. Ninety-eight percent of students wrote that at the used as a resource in the classroom, and 35% of students Though all students reported some barriers to using

23 Journal of STEM Education Volume 19 • Issue 2 April-June 2018 Minecraft, these comments represented a relatively small Conclusions Takeuchi, L M., & Vaala, S. (2014). Level up learning: a part of their overall reflections. Students wrote that they national survey on teaching with digital games. Findings from this study suggest that a short-term in- felt more confident with technology and learned academ- Retrieved from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center tervention can impact student skill and confidence using ic content in the lesson they developed, and those devel- Website: http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/ Minecraft to design their lesson plans. We found changes oped by others. Though they were concerned about the wp-content/uploads/2014/10/jgcc_leveluplearn- in student confidence and skill with both quantitative time it might take for a teacher to learn Minecraft skills, ing_final.pdf they reported that their personal fears were somewhat and qualitative data sources. In addition to discussing the changes to themselves, they described changes to the Zyda, M. (2005). From visual simulation to virtual reality unfounded. They acclimated more quickly to the technol- to games. Computer. 38, 25-32. ogy, and to the task of creating a lesson, than they initially learning environment and to whether teachers can meet thought they would. They attributed this to their percep- the challenges posed by technology in education. Stu- U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Tech- tion that Minecraft provided them freedom to explore, dents also reported on the benefits of collaboration and nology. (2016a). Future ready learning: reimagining work on their own, and use their creativity. Many went teamwork. We found very few gender differences in the the role of technology in education: 2016 National on to reflect on the broad applicability of Minecraft. They perceptions of the changes that students reported in their education technology plan. Retrieved from https:// were impressed with how their peers brought topics to life pre-post test surveys and Minecraft reflections. tech.ed.gov/files/2015/12/NETP16.pdf - topics they thought were inherently boring. The White House.(2015) ConnectED: President Obama’s Model lessons in physics served as an introduction to References plan for connecting all schools to the digital age. Minecraft and allowed students in the course to see the Akcaoglu, M., & Kale, U. (2016). Teaching to teach (with) Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives. possibilities because they were engaged in a difficult con- game design: game design and learning workshops gov/the-press-office/2015/07/15/fact-sheet- tent area they weren’t expecting to like. Very few were in- for preservice teachers. Contemporary Issues in Tech- connecthome-coming-together-ensure-digital- terested in STEM, and many said they actively avoid STEM- nology and Teacher Education, 16(1), 60-81. opportunity-all based classes as much as possible. Still, they reported that they were surprised that they could actually enjoy learn- Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). “Using thematic analysis ing about quantum mechanics and quarks. Interestingly, in psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology, though there were few students in a STEM related major, 3(2), 77-101. many of the lessons the student groups decided to create Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. were in STEM content areas including math, physics, earth (2015). CAEP accreditation standards. Retrieved from science, and biology. In another study we will be reporting http://caepnet.org/knowledge-center#left-column on the impact of the curriculum on students attitudes to- Donnell, P. (2013). Kerbal Space Program Mod KerbalEdu ward science, and their knowledge gains on the two topics takes the game into the world of education. Re- that were used to model the use of Minecraft for teaching trieved from http://www.eteknix.com/kerbal- (particle/atomic physics, and quantum mechanics). space-program-mod-kerbaledu-takes-game- The intervention included training, example lessons, world-education/ freedom to choose their own lesson, much time to gain skills, immersion in a “gaming environment,” and the op- Games in Education Conference, (2017). http://gamesin- portunity to work in a team. The class was held in a cam- education.org pus computer lab with Minecraft pre-installed. This study Li, Q. (2012). Understanding enactivism: a study of affor- does not provide guidance on which factor or combina- dances and constraints of engaging practicing teach- tion of factors contributed to perceived positive changes ers as digital game designers. Educational Technology in student confidence or skill in using the technology for Research and Development, 60(5), 785-806. teaching. We suspect a combination of factors account for Lorence, M. (2015). MinecraftEdu takes hold in schools. changes in the study reported here. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www. The question remains whether students in the course slj.com/2015/04/technology/minecraftedu-takes- who go into teaching will actually design serious games hold-in-schools#_ for use in their future classrooms. We suspect that ongo- Nebel, S., Schneider, S., & Rey, G. D. (2016).Mining learn- ing support and practice will be necessary. Elements from ing and crafting scientific experiments: a literature the course (modeling, scaffolding, practice, technology review on the use of minecraft in education and support) may serve as a guide for professional develop- research. Educational Technology & Society,19(2), ment of in-service teachers increasing confidence and im- 355-366. mediate efforts to use new technologies, and specifically game-based learning in classrooms. These are topics for fu- Romero, M., Barma, S. (2015). Teaching pre-service ture investigation as we follow students through the certifi- teachers to integrate serious games in the primary cation program. At the very least, these pre-service teachers education curriculum. International Journal of Se- completed the course with positive experiences developing rious Games, 2 (1) 45-54. Retrieved from: http:// serious games and technology-based lesson plans. journal.seriousgamessociety.org/index.php?journal =IJSG&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D= 43&path%5B%5D=pdf_9

24 Journal of STEM Education Volume 19 • Issue 2 April-June 2018 Dr. Michele McColgan is an Asst. Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Siena College. She is the founder of Siena’s Informal STEM Program and summer STEM Camps, as well as the Director of the Urban Scholars program where hands-on, project-based activities and gaming teach real-world science and math to middle school students.

Dr. Robert Colesante, Professor of Education, teaches courses in education, educational psychology, and literacy. He has directed or co-directed successful urban youth programs for over 15 years involving hundreds of inner city youth, and over $750,000 in external funding. His research interests include moral development, urban youth development, and use of technology in education. Recent publications appear in the Journal of Moral Education, Journal of Applied Social Psychology and the School Community Journal. Dr. Albert G. Andrade is a middle school educator at Christian Brothers Academy in Albany, NY and Program Developer for the Urban Scholars Program, a STEM enrichment initiative for middle school students. Dr. Andrade’s interests include the application and development of media and learning technologies to support self- directed and project-based learning experiences. Related interests include the development of programs and materials that support critical thinking and deep literacy across the disciplines, and understanding the impact of information technology on education policy and practice.

25 Journal of STEM Education Volume 19 • Issue 2 April-June 2018