I-Corps: Gulliver Innovative Learning: a Platform for Managing Kinesthetic Activities

Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti MI

Investigators

Abstract

Recent reports have stressed that students need to develop an integrated understanding of science throughout their education; particularly with a focus on core concepts in science. In recent years there has been growing concern regarding science education in the United States. The current United States education system falls short when compared to international programs; this is particularly prevalent at higher-grade levels and in scientific subjects. While some success has been achieved in increasing student achievement in reading and writing over the past few years, achievement in science has remained shockingly low. It is clear from these results that new tools and technologies are needed to engage students in science learning in meaningful ways. The proposed project, Gulliver Innovative Learning (GIL) is a scalable educational technology that engages students in modeling scientific phenomena in a fun and exciting way, while at the same time helping students to better understand such phenomena. This project has the potential of substantially enhancing student success in introductory level STEM courses and of influencing scientific literacy among individuals to broaden student participation in such courses. GIL provides a powerful and memorable learning experience that will give students confidence in their ability to tackle STEM subjects. The GIL platform can be extended to teach many scientific concepts including medical phenomena. Through these engaging participation-based activities, students will develop a better understanding of the underlying concepts. Furthermore, through instant analysis of the usage data, instructors will receive feedback regarding the progress of their students, leading to knowledge of gaps in understanding and resulting in ways to further instruct difficult concepts. As a result, instructors will be able to use this information to help students make a better connection between interrelated ideas. The team expects to use the customer discovery process to identify a product-market fit and to explore different pricing and revenue models.