Neuromatrix Study 1

Evaluate the Prototype with 11-14 year old adolescents in grades 6-8 to examine use, feasibility, and interest in the Prototype.

The purpose of the Phase 1 evaluation was to examine use, feasibility, and interest in the Prototype with 11-14 year old adolescents in grades 6-8.

Goals:
1. Evaluate the usability of the Prototype using Likert-type measures that assess clarity of audio, graphics and directions.
2. Evaluate the student’s interest in the Prototype using Likert-type measures that assess how fun, engaging and exciting the Prototype is.
3. Evaluate knowledge gains by assessing prior knowledge (pre-test) and performance on a post-test of true/false response items.

Discussion. The goal of Phase I was to evaluate a neuroscience video game prototype for its ability to be interesting, useful and educational to a target audience of 11-14 year old students. In summary, the Phase I evaluation of Neuromatrix succeeded in its test of feasibility. Adolescents ages 11-14 found the Prototype to be both interesting and useful. The present study has shown that subjects on average favorably evaluated the Prototype on such criteria. In addition, there were real knowledge gains from the modest exposure to information about the function and anatomy of the brain. The subjects of the present study self-reported learning about the brain from numerous sources and certainly have had extensive experience with video games. Perhaps not surprisingly, males report greater use of computer games than do females. However, since females achieved greater knowledge gain, it appears that computer familiarity is not the only factor affecting outcome with Neuromatrix. Therefore, it is clear that as a learning modality, Neuromatrix promises to be an effective tool for teaching neuroscience. The Phase II program promises to be even more effective as an educational software package as additional content and paths to follow are added, thereby promoting additional interest and learning.