WHEELING, WV, Nov. 2, 2009 — Videogame research taking place at Wheeling Jesuit University will be featured in a display for the U.S. Congress.

The CyGaMEs project at the university’s Center for Educational Technologies® is one of several National Science Foundation-funded projects that will be presented Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Senate Hart Office Building in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the event is to educate members of Congress, their staff and other interested people about the use of technology at all levels of education, from teacher development to K-12 learning.

CyGaMEs stands for Cyberlearning through Game-based, Metaphor Enhanced Learning Objects. The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the project in September 2008 for two years at almost $1.2 million and then another $800,000-plus for two more years contingent on available funding. CyGaMEs features an approach to instructional videogame design in which players use metaphors—concepts they already understand—in order to play a game and learn new, more difficult concepts. The project also embeds assessment tools for researchers into the game itself.

The research began with funding from NASA in 2006 and resulted in the creation of the Selene videogame. In Selene players learn difficult geological concepts like accretion, differentiation, impact cratering and volcanism by applying these science concepts to help players move toward the game’s goal of building the Earth’s moon. Players construct the moon, then pepper it with impact craters and flood it with lava to experience how our moon formed and changed over time. All through the game Selene tracks each player’s behavior to measure learning and the player’s response to the game environment.

The NSF grant includes funding for updates and improvements to the game. Second Avenue Software of Pittsford, N.Y., is handling that part of the project.

Presenting the game to Congress will be Debbie Denise Reese, Ph.D., senior educational researcher at the Center for Educational Technologies and leader of the CyGaMEs project, and Victoria Van Voorhis, chief executive officer of Second Avenue Software. They will also display the project Tuesday afternoon at NSF headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

Players ages 9-18 and adult recruiters who confirm players' ages, get parental consent and gather other players are always needed to help with the CyGaMEs research. To sign up as a recruiter or play Selene, visit the Selene website or contact Lisa McFarland at 304-243-2479 or lisamc@cet.edu.

The Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies houses cutting-edge educational technology in its 48,000-square foot facility on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University. It is home to the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future, the space agency's principal research and development center for educational technologies, and the Challenger Learning Center®, one of 47 worldwide established by the Challenger Center for Space Science in memory of the space shuttle Challenger.

The youngest of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Wheeling Jesuit University offers students a high-quality private education. Since 1995 U.S. News & World Report has ranked Wheeling Jesuit University among the top institutions in its "Best Master's Universities in the South" category. The campus is also home to the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center and the Clifford M. Lewis Appalachian Institute.

For complete information about WJU, please call 800-873-7665.

For more information on the above or anything pertaining to the CET, please contact CET editor: Janis Worklan, 304-243-8711, jworklan@cet.edu