An American Story: A Literacy-Rich, Play-Based Approach to Teaching History

The project team will develop a novel prototype of a delivery platform that includes the following components: a student interface to select a role in the collaborative game; access to primary source materials for students to learn about the nuances of various participants, opponents, and tensions surrounding an event in U.S. history; and an educator dashboard to track progress. At the end of Phase I, they will conduct a pilot study with 60 students in 2 middle school social studies classrooms. They will examine whether the prototype functions in supporting role playing and storytelling, if the collaborative game is feasible to deliver in a classroom setting, and if students increase in their knowledge and understanding of a historical event from pre- to post-test.