FA16 project 6- week 10

The subjects in WordPlay are from a particular 6th-grade class in a middle school. The ethnicities the subjects are mixed but include Hispanics, Indian, and Haitians. There were 20 students both boys and girls ranging from the age of 10-12 years old. The narrow down the  demographics a questionnaire was administered using pencil and paper.  Since the rules were previously explained to the subjects i didn’t have to explain in details.  However, for those that missed the class they were briefly explained once more as well as being reminded that they could be disqualified if they failed to follow the rules and respect each other.  In addition to how accurate the students were able to answer, I also observed response time. Measuring the time it took them to respond let me know how well they remember and if the word was unclear. For the purpose of this experiment,the only condition of WordPlay is to be in 6th grade and a student of the specific teacher who granted permission to use their students.  I did not forewarn them that their answers would be observed and the results would be used for a study because I wanted natural responses.  Doing this prevented the results from being swayed a certain way. Once the game was completed, test results were observed to determine if there were any improvements in the memory of the subjects since playing the game. Because the students had prior knowledge of the rules they were able to jump right in. they were excited to play just like the first time. There was a slight improvement in accuracy for some. However, other had a difficult time recalling words from the previous unit as expected. The wild card was drawn a couple times and the first time the student couldn’t remember at all. The other time the student could hardly remember but got close to the fulfilling the task. I attribute this to lack of studying and the time that had passed.  I may wait a couple days before administering the experiment again since this could affect their memory. Doing this will help me determine how well they remember after some time has elapsed. All in all, I think WordPlay is a fun board game that will be used to help prove my thesis.

 

wordplay-image

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About Robert O. Duncan

I'm an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences at City University of New York, with joint appointments in Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuroscience. I also have an appointment as a Visiting Scholar at New York University. My research interests include cognitive neuroscience, functional magnetic resonance imaging, glaucoma, neurodegenerative disorders, attention, learning, memory, educational technology, pedagogy, and developing games for education.

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