Reports
This report was prepared for the Center for Educational Technologies by Dr. Victor M. Hernandez-Gantes, an associate professor at the University of South Florida who is serving as the external evaluator for the CyGaMEs project. The report finds that “in general, given project progress, quality of research and development activities, and level of synergistic collaboration and dissemination, the project may be characterized as reaching exemplary standards of implementation.”
Click here to view or download this report in PDF format.
External evaluator Dr. Hernandez-Gantes found that "Overall, given project progress, quality of research and development activities, and level of synergistic collaboration and dissemination, the project continues to exhibit exemplary standards of implementation" (p. 3).
Some of the many report highlights:
"The broader impacts of project activities align with contributions to emerging evidence that simulations advance conceptual understanding and can motivate students’ interest in science learning. Project results have also established the value of embedded assessments in understanding how players experience cyberlearning. These results are significant because they align with and contribute to recent calls for conducting research and development about how embedded assessment technologies can be used to engage students in learning and assess what and how they learn" (p. 2).
"Regarding the quality of products designed to improve cyberlearning, the project has generated research evidence supporting the merits of the design and learning experience. Further, the project has continued to develop a consistent record of synergistic research and development activities contributing to broader impacts in the areas of videogame development, use of embedded assessments, and dissemination of results" (p. 10).
"Building upon the strong intellectual capacity supporting project activities, research and development activities have produced important and interesting results. To this end, the dissemination of project information and emerging results has been outstanding. Overall, dissemination activities have included a variety of formats and the project is creating increased interest in the field as evidenced by the number of presentations, invited talks, and emerging publications" (p. 19).
"Based on the review of reports of activities, audit of project documentation, and analysis of project result, it is evident the project earned Green Status through Year 3 of implementation. That is, proposed activities, events, or products are on schedule and all milestones anticipated during this period of the project plan are on track. Overall, at the end of Year 3, it is evident that development, research, and dissemination activities are following well-developed and realistic operational timelines and strategies. In turn, the merits of project activities and products designed to improve cyberlearning are well documented and supported by sound strategies. Further, the project has continued to develop a remarkable record of synergistic activity with potentially significant broader impacts resulting from research and development activities. All in all, given project progress, quality of research and development activities, and level of synergistic collaboration and dissemination, the project continues to exhibit exemplary standards of implementation" (pp. 20-21).