Engaging middle school students in scientific practice with a collaborative mobile game

Previous research using collaborative mobile augmented reality games in science education revealed that such games can be used to promote learner engagement and have found that engagement in such mobile games is related to flow. This study investigated whether player\u27s flow experience differed by achievement track, gender, or gender composition of working groups. In an urban school district, 202 students from two eighth-grade science classes participated in a collaborative mobile science game. Data included a self-report survey collected after the game that measured player\u27s flow experience. Using a regression model, the relationship of flow experience with achievement track and gender was explored while controlling for group composition and teacher effects. The study found that gender was related to flow experience; specifically, girls reported higher flow experience scores (d = 0.30). Flow experience did not have a statistically significant relationship with achievement track showing that the activity engaged all observed students similarly

A Research Agenda for Geospatial Technologies and Learning

Knowledge around geospatial technologies and learning remains sparse, inconsistent, and overly anecdotal. Studies are needed that are better structured; more systematic and replicable; attentive to progress and findings in the cognate fields of science, technology, engineering, and math education; and coordinated for multidisciplinary approaches. A proposed agenda is designed to frame the next generation of research in this field, organized around four foci: (1) connections between GST and geospatial thinking; (2) learning GST; (3) curriculum and student learning through GST; and (4) educators’ professional development with GST. Recommendations for advancing this agenda are included