Extra Innings: Using Serious Digital Interactions and the Science of Baseball to Teach Science and Mathematics

ABSTRACT Extra InningsUsing Serious Gaming andampthe Science of Baseball to Teach Science andampMathematics Due to the rapid advances in sciencetechnologyengineeringand mathematicsSTEMthe United States has been at the forefront of innovation and technology development in the health and biomedical fieldsHoweverthese continuing advances are in jeopardy as there is a growing national shortage of trained STEM workersWhile the need for a STEM literate public and STEM workforce grows the education system has not been kept pace with STEM achievement and persistence and U Sstudents consistently rank near the bottom of highly developed countries in mathematics and scienceReaching students by middle school is critical for setting them on the pathway to a STEM careerincluding those in the health research and biomedical fieldsTo encourage interest in STEM topics and ultimately draw more young peopleparticularly diverse youthto STEM and healthrelated careers youth need learning opportunities that provide motivation by building on their current interests and providing real word examples and experiences requiring context specific scientific inquiryThis project addresses these critical needs by creating Extra Inningsa serious gaming app that integrates the concepts of and complements a proven STEM curriculumthe Arizona Diamondbacks Science of Sports Science of Baseballdeveloped for use with middle school studentsthat is aligned with the Common Core standardsNational Science Education Standardsand Next Generation Science StandardsThis game delivered STEM curriculum will leverage the widespread interest in sports and video games to expand STEM learning opportunities for and motivate young students at a critical age when they are making decisions about their interest in STEMThe project is proposing to complete development of a mobile app based serious game with a series of mini gameseach providing experiential learning around a baseball and mathscienceor health conceptFor examplestudents learn about physiology and the connection between the braineyesand nervous system through testing their reaction time at fielding a baseball as the ball appears on the screenUsers also can explore a realistic virtual environmentbased on an actual MLB stadiumand can interact with those involved in STEM related professions within baseball such as physical therapists and team doctorsIn Phase I the prototype mobile game was successfully developed with three mini games based on extensive formative researchand was pilot tested with diverse youthResults showed the game was successful in increasing STEM knowledge and attitudesThis Phase II project will complete the game development with nearlyeducational challengesmotivating prizesjust for funmini gamesand will produce iOSAndroidand virtual reality versions of the gameIn addition the project will conduct a rigorous evaluation and establish the commercial model which includes purchase and sponsorship by Major League Baseball and its franchisesas was the case with the original in person curriculum PUBLIC HEALTH NARRATIVE Advances in sciencetechnologyengineeringand mathematicsSTEMhave long been central to the United Statesandaposability to innovate and develop new productsparticularly in health and scienceas the world has looked to the U Sfor researchers and healthcare pioneers for advances in healthcarebiotechnologyand pharmaceuticalsIn order to continue these advances in health and continue to improve healthcare the U Sneeds to produce large numbers of innovative health focused scientistsmathematicianstechnologistsand providers committed to the health care fieldsHowever evidence indicates that current educational pathways are not leading to a sufficiently large and well trained STEM workforce to achieve this goalNational Science and Technology CouncilThis project proposes to continue development of a serious gameExtra Inningsbased on the Science of Baseball curriculum that through mobile and desktop gaming apps will engage middleschool students to learn STEM languageconceptsand content using real world baseball related simulations and experiencesThis curriculumwith its ability to demonstrate the relevance of science in the lives of childrenis expected to increase user knowledge of biologymathematicsand physicsincrease further interest in STEM topicsand lead to STEM persistence which over time will lead to more students choosing STEM related majors and careersin turn fueling growth in science and health related fieldsThis will lead to advances in research and treatment in healthcare and pharmaceuticalsultimately leading to a healthier population