RumbleBlocks: Teaching science concepts to young children through a unity game

Michael G. Christel; Scott M. Stevens; Bryan S. Maher; Sean Brice; Matt Champer; Nora Bastida; Catherine Chase; Erik Harpstead; Derek Lomas; null More Authors

doi:10.1109/CGames.2012.6314570

RumbleBlocks: Teaching science concepts to young children through a unity game

Michael G. Christel^*, Scott M. Stevens, Bryan S. Maher, Sean Brice, Matt Champer, Nora Bastida, Catherine Chase, Erik Harpstead, Derek Lomas, More Authors

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

RumbleBlocks was developed at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) to teach engineering principles of tower stability to children ages 4-7. The game features tower construction, tower piece removal, and tower comparison levels which were designed with feedback from early childhood educators and learning researchers, and iteratively improved with feedback from child play tests. This paper emphasizes the development process, and initial formative play tests with children. It was developed using the Unity3D game engine, allowing for export as a stand-alone application, web player, or to mobile devices. First results are promising in terms of educational effectiveness, with more studies planned for the future.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of CGAMES'2012 USA - 17th International Conference on Computer Games
Subtitle of host publication	AI, Animation, Mobile, Interactive Multimedia, Educational and Serious Games
Pages	162-166
Number of pages	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/CGames.2012.6314570
Publication status	Published - 19 Nov 2012
Externally published	Yes
Event	17th International Conference on Computer Games, CGAMES 2012 - Louisville, KY, United States Duration: 30 Jul 2012 → 1 Aug 2012

Conference

Conference	17th International Conference on Computer Games, CGAMES 2012
Country/Territory	United States
City	Louisville, KY
Period	30/07/12 → 1/08/12

Keywords

early childhood science education
Educational game
game development process
Unity game engine

Access to Document

10.1109/CGames.2012.6314570

Cite this

Christel, M. G., Stevens, S. M., Maher, B. S., Brice, S., Champer, M., Bastida, N., Chase, C., Harpstead, E., Lomas, D., & More Authors (2012). RumbleBlocks: Teaching science concepts to young children through a unity game. In Proceedings of CGAMES'2012 USA - 17th International Conference on Computer Games: AI, Animation, Mobile, Interactive Multimedia, Educational and Serious Games (pp. 162-166). Article 6314570 https://doi.org/10.1109/CGames.2012.6314570

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title = "RumbleBlocks: Teaching science concepts to young children through a unity game",

abstract = "RumbleBlocks was developed at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) to teach engineering principles of tower stability to children ages 4-7. The game features tower construction, tower piece removal, and tower comparison levels which were designed with feedback from early childhood educators and learning researchers, and iteratively improved with feedback from child play tests. This paper emphasizes the development process, and initial formative play tests with children. It was developed using the Unity3D game engine, allowing for export as a stand-alone application, web player, or to mobile devices. First results are promising in terms of educational effectiveness, with more studies planned for the future.",

keywords = "early childhood science education, Educational game, game development process, Unity game engine",

author = "Christel, {Michael G.} and Stevens, {Scott M.} and Maher, {Bryan S.} and Sean Brice and Matt Champer and Nora Bastida and Catherine Chase and Erik Harpstead and Derek Lomas and {More Authors}",

year = "2012",

month = nov,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1109/CGames.2012.6314570",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781467311199",

pages = "162--166",

booktitle = "Proceedings of CGAMES'2012 USA - 17th International Conference on Computer Games",

note = "17th International Conference on Computer Games, CGAMES 2012 ; Conference date: 30-07-2012 Through 01-08-2012",

}

Christel, MG, Stevens, SM, Maher, BS, Brice, S, Champer, M, Bastida, N, Chase, C, Harpstead, E, Lomas, D & More Authors 2012, RumbleBlocks: Teaching science concepts to young children through a unity game. in Proceedings of CGAMES'2012 USA - 17th International Conference on Computer Games: AI, Animation, Mobile, Interactive Multimedia, Educational and Serious Games., 6314570, pp. 162-166, 17th International Conference on Computer Games, CGAMES 2012, Louisville, KY, United States, 30/07/12. https://doi.org/10.1109/CGames.2012.6314570

RumbleBlocks: Teaching science concepts to young children through a unity game. / Christel, Michael G.; Stevens, Scott M.; Maher, Bryan S. et al.
Proceedings of CGAMES'2012 USA - 17th International Conference on Computer Games: AI, Animation, Mobile, Interactive Multimedia, Educational and Serious Games. 2012. p. 162-166 6314570.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - RumbleBlocks

T2 - 17th International Conference on Computer Games, CGAMES 2012

AU - Christel, Michael G.

AU - Stevens, Scott M.

AU - Maher, Bryan S.

AU - Brice, Sean

AU - Champer, Matt

AU - Bastida, Nora

AU - Chase, Catherine

AU - Harpstead, Erik

AU - Lomas, Derek

AU - More Authors, null

PY - 2012/11/19

Y1 - 2012/11/19

N2 - RumbleBlocks was developed at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) to teach engineering principles of tower stability to children ages 4-7. The game features tower construction, tower piece removal, and tower comparison levels which were designed with feedback from early childhood educators and learning researchers, and iteratively improved with feedback from child play tests. This paper emphasizes the development process, and initial formative play tests with children. It was developed using the Unity3D game engine, allowing for export as a stand-alone application, web player, or to mobile devices. First results are promising in terms of educational effectiveness, with more studies planned for the future.

AB - RumbleBlocks was developed at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) to teach engineering principles of tower stability to children ages 4-7. The game features tower construction, tower piece removal, and tower comparison levels which were designed with feedback from early childhood educators and learning researchers, and iteratively improved with feedback from child play tests. This paper emphasizes the development process, and initial formative play tests with children. It was developed using the Unity3D game engine, allowing for export as a stand-alone application, web player, or to mobile devices. First results are promising in terms of educational effectiveness, with more studies planned for the future.

KW - early childhood science education

KW - Educational game

KW - game development process

KW - Unity game engine

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Christel MG, Stevens SM, Maher BS, Brice S, Champer M, Bastida N et al. RumbleBlocks: Teaching science concepts to young children through a unity game. In Proceedings of CGAMES'2012 USA - 17th International Conference on Computer Games: AI, Animation, Mobile, Interactive Multimedia, Educational and Serious Games. 2012. p. 162-166. 6314570 doi: 10.1109/CGames.2012.6314570

RumbleBlocks: Teaching science concepts to young children through a unity game

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