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Message for college/university geoscience professors:
Hello!
I'm a geosciences educator and media developer at Arizona State University and I wanted to let the community know about our new online learning adventure or 'game' called Surviving Extinction. This educational game takes students on a journey through time as they choose to take on the role of different animals and visually explore the environmental and biological changes that occurred from 350 million years ago to the present. Students step through fifteen different prehistoric time periods and discover ten modern-day expedition sites in an interactive 360° adaptive learning experience. Students must decide which group of animals to follow as their traits change in relation to environmental pressures, ecological changes, new species interactions, and key mass extinctions. The interactive experience allows students to explore how certain evolutionary traits may have been beneficial for species survival. Throughout their journey, they hear from real scientists, solve challenges, and attempt to build a path to the modern day while avoiding deadly predators and, most of all, surviving extinction. Recently, data from a test group showed participants who played Surviving Extinction reported a positive and very effective learning experience (each 6.3 on a seven-point scale).
Most importantly, Surviving Extinction reflects the principles of education through exploration. Students are given autonomy throughout the experience, starting from the choice of which animal to have as their “target” on each playthrough. As a result, students are required to be active in their learning, not just through actively navigating the experience, but by recognizing commonalities and integrating the lessons learned across the different geologic time periods and the different animal lineages.
Here is the game trailer:
https://player.mediaamp.io/p/U8-EDC/qQivF4esrENw/embed/select/media/pUdz_wnfA5od?form=html
Game link (use Chrome or Firefox; not optimized for mobile devices): https://vft.asu.edu/survive/
Thanks so much for your time!
W. Taylor
[email protected]
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