Much has been made of the need to better engage the current crop of students dubbed “digital natives.” This latest generation, having grown up immersed in technology, is deemed to have unique learning needs because of their extensive exposure to technology at such a young age.

For science teachers seeking to increase engagement with this group of learners, a research paper by Constance Steinkuehler and Sean Duncan offers an intriguing suggestion. In the “Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds” (pdf) set for publication next spring in the Journal of Science Education and Technology, the co-authors offer a net generation approach to teaching the scientific method.

Video Game Research
Clive Thompson, reporting for Wired.com, summarizes the suggested method nicely. In an interviewWired.com with Steinkuehler, a game researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Thompson notes that the professor essentially stumbled across the concept while playing the game Lineage.

Steinkuehler notes that at the time she was immersed in the game Lineage most of her guild members were teenage boys. The professor was impressed with how well these young men were able to figure out how to beat the game’s bosses.

Turns out the teenage boys were so into the game they were actually building Excel spreadsheets to record game information. The boys would record what potions affected the bosses and which attacks caused what damage.

In essence the boys were making a prediction as to how they might beat the game then recording the results of that prediction. Those results would create new ideas which in turn would be tested out. In addition, Steinkuehler noted that the teenagers were often arguing about the next trial as well as what might be the outcome of the effort.

As Steinkuehler points out, these young men were in fact practicing the fundamentals of science and implementing the basic aspects of the scientific method. As Thompson notes, Steinkuehler found her realization was both “fascinating and provocative.”

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