The impact of science education games on prescription drug abuse attitudes among teens: a case study.

Two online science education games, in which players learn about the risks of prescription drug abuse in the context of investigating crimes, were evaluated to determine shifts of prescription drug abuse attitudes attributable to game exposure. High school students from grades 11 and 12 (n = 179) were assigned to one of the games and participated in a pretest, two game-play sessions, and a delayed posttest. Students in both groups demonstrated more negative attitudes toward prescription drug abuse after playing the game, driven by changes of students' normative beliefs and their ability to make the connection between prescription drug abuse and illicit drugs.

The Impact of a Science Education Game on Students' Learning and Perception of Inhalants as Body Pollutants.

This study investigated the knowledge gains and attitude shifts attributable to a unique online science education game, The game was developed to teach middle school students about the biological consequences of exposure to toxic chemicals in an environmental science context, as well as the risks associated with abusing these chemicals as inhalants. Middle school students ( = 444) grades six through eight participated in the study consisting of a pre-test, three game-play sessions, and a delayed post-test. After playing the game, students demonstrated significant gains in science content knowledge, with game usability ratings emerging as the strongest predictor of post-test content knowledge scores.

Teaching the biological consequences of alcohol abuse through an online game: impacts among secondary students.

A multimedia game was designed to serve as a dual-purpose intervention that aligned with National Science Content Standards, while also conveying knowledge about the consequences of alcohol consumption for a secondary school audience. A tertiary goal was to positively impact adolescents' attitudes toward science through career role-play experiences within the game. In a pretest/delayed posttest design, middle and high school students, both male and female, demonstrated significant gains on measures of content knowledge and attitudes toward science.

Efficacy of MedMyst: an Internet Teaching Tool for Middle School Microbiology.

Can web-based technology be used to effectively introduce or reinforce aspects of microbiology to middle school students? This central hypothesis examines whether brief exposure to a web adventure format containing virtual lab experiments and computer games within an engaging story line can impact student learning. An episodic adventure series, MedMyst (http://medmyst.rice.