Microsoft Research, NYU, and Seven Other Universities Create Games for Learning Institute

By Timothy Farrell

NYU and a consortium of universities recently unveiled plans for a first-of-its-kind, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional gaming research alliance that will provide the fundamental scientific evidence to support games as learning tools for math and science subjects among middle-school students.
    The Games for Learning Institute (G4LI) is a joint research endeavor of Microsoft Research, NYU, and a consortium consisting of Columbia University, the City University of New York, Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of NYU, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Teachers College.
    The G4LI will identify which qualities of computer games engage students and develop relevant, personalized teaching strategies that can be applied to the learning process.
    Microsoft Research is providing $1.5 million to the institute while NYU and its partners are matching that investment, for a combined $3 million. Funding covers the first three years of the G4LI’s research, which will focus on evaluating computer games as potential learning tools for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects at the middle-school years (grades 6–8). The institute will work with a range of student populations, yet focus on underrepresented middle-school students, such as girls and minorities.
    “Middle school is a critical stage for students, a time when many are introduced to advanced math and science concepts,” said Ken Perlin, professor of computer science in NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and founding director of the Media Research Laboratory at NYU, who will direct the G4LI with Jan Plass, associate professor of educational communication and technology at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
    “Many students become discouraged or uninterested and pour their time at home into gaming,” said Perlin. “Ironically, we think gaming is our starting point to draw them into math, science, and technology-based programs.”
    Video games, with their popularity and singular ability to engage young people, are showing promise as a way to excite and prepare the Internet generation. These students, though well versed in using technology for social networking and Internet research, are continuing a decline in proficiency and interest in math and sciences—the very skills needed to prepare them for the new demands and requirements of the 21st century.
    The G4LI, which will be based in the Computer Science Media Research Laboratory at Courant, will evaluate game prototypes and introduce them, along with accompanying curricula, to an existing network of 19 New York City area schools. Results in the classroom will be tracked and, based on the findings, the institute’s goal is to expand its research and game development to all K–12 grades. Resulting scientific evidence will be shared broadly with researchers, game developers, and educators.