Abstract
The main objective of this article is to present the video game “Know Me” and expose the obtained results with the performed usability tests and user eXperience evaluations. Gender inequality in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas still exists, so it is important to act to tackle this gap. “Know Me” integrates an interactive digital narrative that promotes gender equality in STEM educational areas, as well as several mini-games to make the experience more challenging. The aim of “Know Me” is to raise awareness among students, between 14 and 16 years old, about the existence of gender inequality in STEM areas and to demonstrate to students, of the same age group, the potential of these areas.
The ideation process of the video game is described, as well as the methodology used throughout the investigation. Thus, this research integrates several sequential phases: i) research, analysis and planning phase, which involved 6 participants, 3 male and 3 female, aged between 14 and 16; ii) development phase of the product (video game); iii) test and evaluation phase, with 8 participants, 4 female and 4 male, aged between 14 and 16; and iv) interpretation of the results.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The prototype of the video game “Know Me” is available at: https://play.unity.com/mg/other/know-me-web.
References
UNESCO: Girls’ and women’s education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) (2020). Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://en.unesco.org/stemed
UNESCO: Cracking the code girls’ and women’s education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). UNESCO Publishing (2017)
Kermani, H., Aldemir, J.: Preparing children for success: integrating science, math, and technology in early childhood classroom. Early Child Dev. Care 185(9), 1504–1527 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2015.1007371
Simpson, A., Linder, S.M.: The indirect effect of children’s gender on early childhood educators’ mathematical talk. Teach. Teach. Educ. 54, 44–53 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.11.011
Alexander, J.M., Johnson, K.E., Kelley, K.: Longitudinal analysis of the relations between opportunities to learn about science and the development of interests related to science. Sci. Educ. 96(5), 763–786 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21018
United Nations: Sustainable Development Goals (2020). Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://unric.org/en/united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/
Buck, G.A., Francis, D.C., Wilkins-Yel, K.G.: Research on gender equity in STEM education. In: Handbook of research on STEM education, pp. 289–299. Routledge (2020). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429021381
Sandström, M., Stier, J., Sandberg, A.: Working with gender pedagogics at 14 Swedish preschools. J. Early Childhood Res. 11(2), 123–132 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X124662055
OECD: The under-representation of women in STEM fields. In: The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle, pp. 105–112. OECD iLibrary (2017). https://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264281318-en
Colaço, A.: Narrativa digital interativa: promoção da igualdade de género em STEM. Universidade de Aveiro (2021). http://hdl.handle.net/10773/32670
Cresswell, J.W., Creswell, J.D.: Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (5th edition). SAGE Publications Inc. (2018)
Acknowledgments
This work is financially supported by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the project UIDB/05460/2020.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Colaço, A., Oliveira, A.P., Zagalo, N. (2022). Know Me: Promoting Gender Equality in Education Through an Interactive Digital Narrative. In: Reis, A., Barroso, J., Martins, P., Jimoyiannis, A., Huang, R.YM., Henriques, R. (eds) Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education. TECH-EDU 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1720. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22918-3_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22918-3_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-22917-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-22918-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)