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Use in education
[edit]Teach with Portals
[edit]Valve has announced "Teach with Portals" and "Steam for Schools" in June 2012, initiatives offering Portal 2 and Portal 2 Puzzle Maker for education. The educational version is free but only contains single-player campaign and Puzzle Maker. And it's only available for "Steam for Schools" users.[1]
Several critics wrote that Portal 2 excels in teaching the player to solve puzzles; in a review for the New York Times, Seth Schiesel wrote, "Somewhere out there an innovative, dynamic high school physics teacher will use Portal 2 as the linchpin of an entire series of lessons and will immediately become the most important science teacher those lucky students have ever had."[2] Mathematics and science teachers wrote e-mails to Valve to tell them how they had included Portal in their classroom lessons as part of a project to promote the "gamification of learning".[3] Portal developers Joshua Weier and Yasser Malaika led a team within Valve to explore ways of using Portal 2 for education.[3] This led to the development of Puzzle Maker, a level editor for Portal 2 players, built from the professional tools used to develop the game.[3] Weier and Malaika did not want to design curricula themselves, but wanted to provide educators with tools for creating lesson plans. Hammer, the only tool freely available before the release of the built-in level editor in 2012, was difficult for educators to learn and understand. Valve gave Puzzle Maker an easy-to-learn interface and the ability to share puzzles and lesson plans. The tools were developed with a mathematics teacher and her students.[4][3] This formed the basis of a new "Steam for Schools" initiative launched in June 2012, under which educators could acquire Portal 2 and the Puzzle Maker software free of charge for classroom use through its "Teach with Portals" program.[5] As of November 2012[update], Valve estimates that over 2,500 educators are using the "Teach with Portals" software within their lesson plans.[3]
Research
[edit]A study in 2016 proved that the Portal 2 Puzzle Maker can be used as a measure of fluid intelligence, similar to the Bochumer Matrices Test (BOMAT)[6]. Referred to as the Portal 2 Test Battery, the participants of the study completed a series of test chambers that progressively became harder. [6]
Some studies have been conducted to determine if video games can have a significant impact on cognitive and non cognitive skills.[7][8] Through multiple pretests and post tests, a 2014 study had shown that Portal 2 had improved problem solving skills, spatial skills, and persistence for a designated task.[7] The participants of this study did not need to have previous gaming experience. Another study done in 2017 found that commercial video games, like Portal 2, can also increase communication, adaptability and resourcefulness.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ Tach, Dave (2012-06-30). "Valve details Teach with Portals, Steam for Schools educational initiatives". Polygon. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
- ^ Schiesel, Seth (2011-05-10). "Physics, With Wormholes by You". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
- ^ a b c d e Salen, Katie (2012-11-13). "How Portal 2 Developers Became The Best 6th Grade Physics Teachers Ever". Fast Company. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
- ^ Alexander, Leigh (2012-06-20). "Valve helps educators Teach With Portals". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
- ^ Narcisse, Evan (2012-06-20). "Valve Gives Away Portal 2 for Free to Teachers with 'Steam for Schools'". Kotaku. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
- ^ a b Foroughi, Cyrus K.; Serraino, Carolyn; Parasuraman, Raja; Boehm-Davis, Deborah A. (October 2016). "Can we create a measure of fluid intelligence using Puzzle Creator within Portal 2?". Intelligence. 56: 58–64 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
- ^ a b Shute, Valerie J.; Ventura, Matthew; Ke, Fengfeng (August 2014). "The power of play: The effects of Portal 2 and Lumosity on cognitive and noncognitive skills". Computers & Education. 80: 58–67 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
- ^ a b Barr, Matthew (May 2017). "Video games can develop graduate skills in higher education students: A randomised trial". Computers & Education. 113: 86–97 – via Elsevier Science Direct.