What people are saying about New Nexus

BRONZE BLADES: CHEMISTRY MODULE

Typical student feedback after a week of work with this module:

"I'm in Mr. Spence's chemistry class, and I really enjoyed spending a few days playing this game. First of all, it allowed for a change from the usual schedule and let us learn some chemistry (and history too) in a way that's much different from the listen-and-take-notes norm. Since all of our classes have us repeatedly scribbling notes day in and day out, it's really nice to have such a significant change in teaching method for a few days.

As for the game itself, I think it is well thought out and well built, and it definitely does have margin for learning about chemistry, what's involved in the smelting of ores, and crafting of weapons using these metals. Sure, we could have learned the same basic things in the classroom, but the game kept us interested and helped to put ratios and development into perspective. I also liked how there was a specific goal to the game - to craft a bronze sword - because it made me feel like I was actually playing to accomplish something rather than simply throwing some virtual rocks and experimental amounts of charcoal into a forge just to complete a worksheet.

It think it would be interesting if some "mini quests" were added - some other goals other than just creating the sword. These quests should probably be linked to chemistry in some way since that is the purpose of the game. Mini-quests would make it feel less linear and keep it interesting. Also, just for efficiency's sake, it would be nice if some of the items weren't so heavy so there isn't so much unecessary teleporting to the place where you've dropped all the rocks (or even just to shut the voice up!)

I think my entire class has learned a lot about chemistry from this game and I would definitely support doing something like this again."

        -Lauren R., 10th grade

 

"I loved the idea of putting curriculum into a computer game and I think that it was very effective in teaching the material because every night I wanted to do research for the game, instead of just researching for hw [homework] where iwould probably be bored and not absorb as much of the material.

[In response to the question "What did you learn from the Bronze Blades module?"]  "I learned how to make bronze! And all about alloys, and a bunch of history about mining, and making bronze and copper. It was very informational. Thanks for putting time into making this for us!"

         -Divya R., 10th grade

 

"I really liked the game, but more than the game, i really like the idea in general of incorporating computer games into a curriculum. My friends in the other classes were extremely jealous, as any high school kid would love to play games at school. I really enjoyed everything about the game from the graphics to the story line.

The questions we had to answer after we finished the game made me realize how much chemistry was in the game, but i wish we had learned a little more before starting. I didn't really feel like i had to use my chemistry skills to play the game. It felt more like a guess and check deal, and if we had done a little pre-lesson, i think i would have appreciated the chemistry more. It might be cool to incorporate stochiometry and limiting reagent stuff to the game so students would have to actually do equations instead of trial and error.  

The game made chemistry more interesting for me because it was like a practical application of my chemistry."

         -Connor B., 10th grade

 

University professor writes:

"I'm an archaeologist with a strong interest in the possibilities of game-based learning. My first thought when I saw your module on bronze blades was that this would be fantastic for my Intro to Archaeology students! To date, I have only explored scenario building in Civilization IV for my teaching, but ideally some day I would love to use the kind of tool-kit that you are envisioning.

Anyway, bravo on a fantastic project, and good luck,

           -Dr. Shawn Graham