“This is so cool, video games in school!”

We have just wrapped up a day in a 8^th grade science classroom at Barker Road Middle School, where about 100 students playtested our Martha Madison physics game on Newton’s Laws. The mere presence of Xbox game controllers brought forth smiles and shouts from nearly every student who walked into the room.

It is always so exciting to watch students playtest our games, especially in their own classrooms with their peers. First reactions tell us a great deal about whether we are on track with aesthetics and game mechanics. “Aww, this is so cute, the animals are adorable,” said one student, indicating that our character designs and color palettes are on target for this age group.

Once students became immersed in the game, and began playing with force diagrams and Newton’s Laws, the enthusiasm was palpable. “Oh my gosh, this is a free body diagram platformer game!” “Wow, this is challenging. I actually have to think.” The use of science specialist language started to emerge by the second or third levels of the game: “Yes! We overcame air resistance and friction!” and “How can we beat the effects of gravity?” We saw other indicators of student learning at the end of the sessions when Mrs. O’Dea asked students about concepts explored in the game; even students who had no previous formal exposure to this content were able to answer the questions accurately.

As students prepared to leave the room, we asked them to provide us with written comments. Here are a few of our favorites:

“Add power-ups!” 

“It didn’t just involve physics, it also uses teamwork as well which I liked.”

“If this game was homework I would gladly accept it with a smile on my face. P.S. Can you convince Mrs. O’Dea to let us test more games? P.P.S. Best Friday the 13^th ever. ”

“The levels were perfect, it was intense and that made it fun.”

“I hope one day everyone will be able to play this game.”

“It was perfect.”

Thank you Mrs. O’Dea and the entire team at Barker Road Middle School, with a special shout out to all of the students! Stay tuned for more great feedback from the students at Barker Road, we will be back soon with more games!