No matter how many times a life is lost in a game, people will try again and again to progress to the next level or gain as many points, coins, or stars as possible. In education, using games for learning has become a popular trend and a powerful motivator. In this post, I describe a game-based assessment I am developing that will allow students to actively learn and think critically in a new context.
Overview:
Learning about the physiology of living things and the processes that occur within a cell can be quite confusing because such concepts are not visible to the human eye. In such biology lessons, I always try to find activities that can model these scientific topics where students can make connections and develop their scientific literacy. Hence, I have chosen to develop a game-based assessment that will focus on molecular biology as the semiotic domain and will assess students on the process of DNA replication. By playing the game, students will be able to show what they learned by becoming scientists and progressing through the multiple steps to successfully replicate a DNA molecule. If they do not succeed, they must try and fix their mistakes or even start again! The game is being built on software called Twine, whose affordances support a game design consisting of a multistep process like DNA replication.
Game Description:
Students will take the role of a geneticist and will control all the enzymes and molecules needed to replicate a strand of DNA. The game mechanics will present multiple options, some are required to successfully replicate strand of DNA while others are needed for other processes within the cell. Feedback and remediation footage will be incorporated within the learning path. Once they successfully replicate the strand of DNA, they will complete and win the game.
Objective:
The standard from the NGSS that I will be focusing on is HS-LS3-2. Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits. Make and defend a claim based on evidence about the natural world that inheritable genetic variations may result from (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.
External Grammar:
Students will be able to understand their role as a geneticist and what possible solutions they can come up with to fix or modify this mistake. The game will reinforce scientific concepts and allow them to make connections with occurrences around them. Students will understand how genes are passed from generation to generation and how a cell contains multiple security checkpoints to avoid genetic disorders.
Internal Grammar:
Students must be able to navigate and choose the correct enzymes that govern each step and how each of them functions in DNA replication. In order to complete the game, students will also be assessed on their understanding of the symbols and images that are specific to this particular semiotic domain. When learning about genetics, students must be able to identify and understand symbols and their meanings. Below are some examples of the symbols that will be used throughout the game and the reflection form they need to complete after they finish the game.
3’ and 5’ - labels that will be used to show the direction of a DNA strand. The direction is important to determine the leading and lagging strand of a DNA molecule.
A, C, T, G and U – bases found in nucleic acids (note: U is not needed in DNA replication but is a base used for DNA transcription). Students need to know that these letters symbolize the bases in order to correctly implement the base-pair rules. A video is embedded to reteach this concept where needed.
Words that end with ‘ase’ – represents enzymes (note: some of these enzymes are not involved in DNA replication). The meaning of the word can be easily remembered if you break it down into its parts. This is helpful in science, because many words contain common prefixes and suffixes. Students will be given options to identify the enzyme they need for a particular step. They can eliminate any of the options that do not end with these letters. Feedback is embedded to support these ideas.
Procedural Rhetoric:
This game-based assessment includes many choices students need to make that are all intertwined and reflect on the internal and external grammar of the game. If their choice is incorrect, they will see that they cannot progress to the next step, and must return and fix their mistake. For example, the enzyme helicase must be used first to unwind the strand of DNA so that they can access the bases. They will not be able to see the base sequence if they do not unwind the DNA and therefore will have to retry in order to progress to the next step. If the base pairing is incorrect, the game will show that their strand of DNA has a mutation and they can choose how they would react in such a situation to fix their mistake. This allows students to assess their own understanding the principles of base pairing and how this internal process determines external disorders.
Teaching Context:
Students will have learned about the steps of DNA replication before playing the game. The game will fit in as the first part of my formative assessment to address any misconceptions or learning gaps that students might have. If any student is not able to complete the game, then reteaching the scientific concepts presented in the internal grammar of the game is essential. Small group teaching could be one way to enhance student understanding on the symbols and terminology used in the game. Once students complete the game, they will be presented with a human disorder where a mutation has occurred in the same DNA strand replicated during the game. This will allow them to reflect on the external grammar of the game they just played and show and communicate what they have learned.
Overall, this assessment will address the elements presented in my Assessment Design Checklist (ADC) that I have developed in my earlier posts. The game will clearly present the objective of the game (question 1) and how it is aligned with what they learned. Completion of the game is good evidence that learning has taken place, but Twine does not provide me with data on the steps they struggled with the most. In order to gain insights on student understanding, I have added part 2 as a reflection and evidence of learning has taken place (question 2). This game will not have a numerical value as a grade, but rather students must complete the game before progressing to the next part of the lesson (question 3). The game will have feedback incorporated throughout that depends on students' responses to each passage (question 4). If they have done a step incorrectly, the next passage will contain the feedback they need to fix their mistake. If they have chosen correctly, they will see that they have successfully progressed to the next step/passage. I plan on minimizing the amount of text as much as possible in each passage and reducing any language barriers that students might have. This will remove obstacles for second language learners and allows them to focus on their scientific literacy. The reflection in part 2, will allow students to respond in multiple ways such as written answers or drawing and labeling (question 5).
Game File:
To access the game file of what has been developed so far from my DNA replication game click on the following link.