Assessment and Learning of Qualitative Physics in Newton's Playground

ABSTRACT

Digital games are very popular in modern culture. The authors are examining ways to leverage these engaging environments to assess and support student competencies. The authors examine gameplay and learning using a physics game they developed called Newton's Playground. The sample consisted of 167 eighth- and ninth-grade students who played Newton's Playground for about 4 hr over the course of 1.5 weeks. Findings include significant pretest–posttest physics gains, and significant relations between in-game indicators and learning.

Keywords:

• learning in games
• qualitative physics
• stealth assessment

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their funding of this project. They would also like to thank Matthew Small, Lubin Wang, and Don Franceschetti for their work on this project.