1. A Case Study on Integrating Game Programming and Biology Education
Gene Expression Games Integrating Game Design and Development into Undergraduate Biology Education
A Case Study on Integrating Game Programming and Biology Education

2. Our Approach Game Making and Game Playing to support learning
Design & Develop (Phase I)
Collect game stories
Build: Gene Expression Games
Study Effectiveness (Phase II)
Encourage fun - reinforcing knowledge
Assumption: students enjoy video games
Assumption not always correct; many students were not very interested in playing, much less building computer games.

3. Design & Development: Phase I
Three biology students and two computer science students volunteered
Biology students: Game Story
Computer science students: Java applications
Project completed in one semester
Met monthly
Two Tetris-like games

4. Design & Development: Phase I
Gene Transcription & Gene Translation Games
Design Goals: (Biology Students)
How to design a game story that fits the educational context?
How to make it intriguing and easy to use?
What style is appropriate to demonstrate the biology concept?
How to decompose and manage the system?
Story from Faculty
Design goals were assigned to the team; Developers were
Bio students (3) were volunteers (self-selected)

5. Gene Transcription Game

6. Gene Translation Game

7. Case Study: Phase II Pre- and post- game study;
Three focus group sessions, mostly college juniors
74 biology (2 sessions), computer science (1)
Resulted in three distinct groups:
NOT- or only A LITTLE familiar with content (25)
SOMEWHAT familiar with the content (28)
Familiar with the content (21)

8. Significant Difference
P-value =
Educational Value….

9. Entertainment Value….

10. Results – Phase II Focus group data suggests:
Games have better effect on those who are less familiar with the content than those who already knew them, and
Students who are more familiar with the content think the games are more entertaining and less educational.

11. Game Design… Game Story is key
Game type
Working load (development and play)
Teams (cross-functional)
Time period (focus: one semester)
Students really studied the details and asked some interesting questions.

12. Game Design Team Gannon University
Yunkai Liu,
Bioinformatics
Mary Vagula,
Biology
Weifeng Xu,
Software Engineering
Steve Frezza,
Software Engineering
Questions
Q: Other ways to measure Educational effectiveness OR Engagement value BESIDES pre- post- test?
Q: What should we evaluate? Long term memory? Short? Types of comprehension? Ideas very welcome
Small Games: 5-10 min games
We use the Small Game model….
Q: For a series of small games – how to develop a
A series of games that collectively achieve the educational/engagement goals(s)
System to facilitate the integration of small games for educational use (e.g., mix-n- match, outcomes assessment, etc.)
Trend: Longer or shorter? How to validate the small game approach?
Tao Ding, CS
Qing Guan, CS
Xinger Ning
BIOL
Danielle Auth
BIOL
Ethan Sanborn
BIOL