Sparking Joy in Learning
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Does Fun = Learning? How to measure fun in educational games
At STEMPlay Labs, we take fun seriously. In Part I of this series, we shared some inspiration and research that guides our game design and development. Here we are digging deeper into the technical approaches on the cutting edge of game design research. Measuring fun in educational game research reveals a field still struggling with…
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Designing Educational Games: How fun is it?
At STEMPlay Labs, we take fun seriously. In this 2 Part series, Director of Educaitona and Research, Mia Barrett shares inspiration and research that guides our game design and development. When students call an educational game “fun,” what do they mean? They’re invoking a concept that researchers have spent decades trying to define, designers struggle…
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Learning Through Play: From Toy Store to Ed Tech
A conversation with STEMPlay Labs Director of Education Research and Development, Mia Barrett Tell us about yourself and your role at STEMPlay Labs. I’m the Director of Education Research and Development at STEMPlay Labs. My role centers on ensuring that all of our game based learning and ed tech products are grounded in research and…
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March Mathness: Real Basketball Data for Real Math Learning
Every spring, millions of people fill out brackets, debate upsets, and obsess over college basketball statistics during the NCAA Basketball Men’s and Women’s Tournament March Madness. What if we could harness that excitement to teach essential math concepts? That’s exactly what STEMPlay Labs Teacher Insiders are doing with Fantasy Sports Math League’s March Mathness. Here…
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Real-World Relevance with Environmental Health Literacy
Environmental health literacy goes beyond the awareness of environmental problems. It makes the issues relevant to help see how these issues may affect the health of people and animals in our communities. Environmental health literacy is giving people the tools to understand how environmental exposures affect health and how to identify and assess environmental risks…
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Breaking Barriers in STEM
A Conversation with STEMPlay Labs Director, BA Laris An interview exploring game-based learning, career paths, and making STEM accessible for all students Tell us about yourself and your role at STEMPlay Labs. I’m the Director and innovator of STEMPlay Labs, powered by dfusion. Creating this new division was really important to us—we wanted to elevate…
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It is time to draft your Fantasy Football Team!
Come play Fantasy Sports Math League with us! Need some coaching on how to use math to build a championship-caliber team? We got you! Here are our favorite FSML coaches’ strategy advice to build math skills and sharpen strategic thinking. 💖 Dream Team: Select as many of your favorite players as possible.Coach Bianchi: “Saquon Barkley…
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Create New Playbooks: Integrate Sports into STEM Lessons
Sports-based learning can motivate students who might otherwise be disengaged from STEM. Classrooms become more diverse, bringing different perspectives and experiences to problem-solving. Students learn that there are many ways to be “smart” and many paths to STEM success. Here are some simple strategies that work.
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A New Champion: STEM and Sports Learning Shatters STEM Stereotypes
Picture this: A student who has never considered themselves “good at math” suddenly finds themselves calculating batting averages, analyzing quarterback statistics, and creating graphs to track their fantasy team’s performance.