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Video Games 2014 Completed

Decimal Point

NSF-funded educational amusement park game teaching middle school students decimals through interactive minigames. Built at CMU HCII with Bruce McLaren and Jodi Forlizzi.

FlashActionScriptEducational GameNSFCMU HCIIMathMiddle SchoolLearning Science
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Overview

Decimal Point is an NSF-funded educational game research project developed at CMU’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute. It explores whether game-based learning can motivate middle school students and improve their understanding of decimal operations, using an amusement park metaphor where students play minigames to learn.

Materials are available through MathTutor, a website that helps middle school students learn math.

My Role

Co-developed with Bruce McLaren and Jodi Forlizzi at CMU HCII (Summer 2014). Built the game’s interactive minigames and UI in Flash/ActionScript as part of a research study measuring learning outcomes.

Minigames

  • Whack-a-Gopher — place decimals on a number line
  • Fire Cannon — decimal ordering and comparison
  • Ancient Temple — decimal addition and subtraction
  • Thirsty Vampire — decimal multiplication concepts

Research Impact

Funded by the National Science Foundation (Award No. 1238619). The project has generated over 20 peer-reviewed publications on learning science, gender effects, AI in education, and game-based learning outcomes.

Gallery

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