NSF Awards: 1913637
Spark the joy of learning with MindLabs Energy in Circuits! Robot characters Atom and Anne join alongside double agent dynamo Dr. Pixel to thwart Evil Dr. Stonebreaker. Cover energy transformation; open, closed and short circuits; switches and fans all while your students engage in the engineering design process. Collaborative, interactive, engaging AR, that's even remote friendly AND hands-on!
DeLene Hoffner
Lead Teacher
I really enjoyed your video and project. What were the most profound lessons you learned through your work? Do students have previous experience with building actual circuits with wires, batteries, bulbs?
Amanda Thompson
CEO
Thank you for your comment DeLene! We find that both the experienced and inexperienced students can benefit from working with the digital materials. I think the most exciting observation we had was how engaged students became within the collaborative environment, both when given a difficult challenge and once the challenge was over and they explored what was possible with elaborate designs!
Amanda Thompson
CEO
Good morning STEM4all attendees! Thank you for clicking through to our video. We are excited to share our work on creating meaningful augmented reality for STEM. I'm Dr. Amanda Thompson (aka Dr. Pixel when in character on our YouTube STEMPossible series!), educator, entrepreneur, research geek and mom. My team and I developed MindLabs' innovative technology that uses augmented reality to combine digital learning with hands-on learning to deepen students’ understanding of concepts like energy and circuits. Our vision is to build engaging lesson and create environments across the key science and engineering concepts as possible for the elementary age learner, while being mindful to incorporate writing and math to fit it into teacher's busy day. We are currently proposing to supplement the open-ended system with a robust engineering notebook tool (and "stealth" assessment) to help teachers evaluate design thinking, collaboration and SEL skills. We'd absolutely love to hear from you!
Noelle Posadas
This is a really cool project! I am the design director at Killer Snails, we are using XR technology to help students see themselves as scientist. We are currently working on a new project with the NIH for students in the 3-5th grade. Were there any best practices your team discovered when trying to abstract concepts and systems for this age group?
Amanda Thompson
CEO
Hi Noelle! We are a big fan of Killer Snails! Our philosophy is to "un" abstract concepts by providing visualizations, also the digital version of assets allow you to narrow to the concept of interest for younger ages and leave more complex ideas for later discovery.
Noelle Posadas Shang
DeLene Hoffner
Lead Teacher
So students learn about circuits through virtual manipulations? Interesting. The students seem very motivated by this and learn a lot. What do you find are the biggest take-aways for students?
Amanda Thompson
CEO
When the students are able to see a concept in repetition (of course with variants of the setting), they start using the vocabulary to design and troubleshoot their own work. It's very exciting! Also, they love that they can also do "edge" cases, ie purposely create short circuits and see what happens!
Myriam Steinback
Independent Consultant
Nice video - you mention that all students can have access to your materials. How can schools access them? Teachers do have busy days - how are they making time to incorporate your materials? What PD support do you provide to teachers?
Amanda Thompson
CEO
The app is free! And while we do sell the physical product, we offer a printable trial sheet on our website. They won't work with the same fidelity as the purchased product but they're a great way to try it out!
Josie Melton
Post-Doctoral Researcher and Senior Instructor
Students seem very engaged with these materials! How are you assessing impacts of the project - are you measuring student learning in terms of content or is it more about attitudes towards STEM?
Amanda Thompson
CEO
Here are the research questions we are tackling next!
Josie Melton
Post-Doctoral Researcher and Senior Instructor
Thanks for sharing - there are many potential impacts of your program! I look forward to learning more about it in the future.
DeLene Hoffner
Lead Teacher
Bravo to all for this wonderful discussion! Thank you for viewing and adding your questions and expertise. Please share the STEM Showcase with others so they can participate in the discussion too. Let's get more educators involved in viewing these top projects. Voting and discussion ends on May 18th at 8PM EDT. (but viewing is open anytime) https://stemforall2021.videohall.com/
For presenters, what are your next steps going forward?
Amanda Thompson
CEO
We are submitting a Phase II application today!!!