Front End Evaluation of EarthScope Panorama

Date:

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Resource Type:

Front-End | Research and Evaluation Instruments | Survey | Interview Protocol | Evaluation Reports

Environment Type:

Media and Technology, Games, Simulations, and Interactives

Audience:

Middle School Children (11-13) | Museum/ISE Professionals | Evaluators

Discipline:

Education and learning science | Geoscience and geography | Nature of science

Organization:

Goodman Research Group, Inc., Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Description:

Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted front-end evaluation and Alpha testing for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics of EarthScope Panorama, an interactive Earth science game for middle school youth. The front-end evaluation focused on the prospective content, format, and platform of the game, with the broad goal of assessing four different game prototypes in a population of middle school students. The specific objectives of the evaluation were to document and assess what students already know about EarthScope-related themes and content, what geoscience questions they have, and types of games they find challenging, fun, and exciting. The appendix of this report includes an interview protocol and surveys.

Funder(s):

NSF

Funding Program:

EHR

Award Number:

0643177

Funding Amount:

204874

Document:

report_264.PDF