As technology has become cheaper and ubiquitous, children are spending more time playing video games. Surveys suggest that that video game play is an activity that children participate in almost universally and that the amount of time spent playing games is enormous (Lenhart et al., 2008). While new research makes a compelling case for the educational potential of video games, some categories of games are rarely represented. Action platform games in particular, while incredibly popular among today’s youth, are seldom mentioned in video game research. Constructionism is a powerful design tool for transforming passive activities into highly engaging, thought-provoking, educationally rich experiences (Papert, 1993a). While constructionism has been utilized successfully in programs that encourage children to design video games (Harel & Papert, 1991; Kafai, 1995), we believe that constructionism has a place in the playing of video games as well. We propose that action platform games should be designed to incorporate a constructionist paradigm. By incorporating constructionism into action platform video games we believe that such games can become powerful spaces for identity formation and problem-solving skill development.

Examining the relationship between students ’ understanding of the nature of models and conceptual learning in Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. This research addresses high school students ’ understandings of the nature of models, and their interaction with model-based software in three science domains, namely, Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. Data from 736 high school students’ understandings of models were collected using the Students ’ Understanding of Models in Science (SUMS) survey as part of a large scale, longitudinal study in the context of technology-based curricular units in each of the three science domains. The results of ANOVA and regression analyses showed that there were differences in students ’ pre-test understandings of models across the three domains, and that higher post-test scores were associated with having engaged in a greater number of curricular activities, but only in the chemistry domain. The analyses also showed that the relationships between the pre-test understanding of models sub-scales scores and post-test content knowledge varied across domains. Some implications are discussed with regard to how students ’ understanding of the nature of models can be promoted. 1

Evolution, and how to teach it, is perhaps the most controversial topic in American schools today. Biologists attest to the ubiquity of evolution, and assert that evolutionary explanations undergird their entire science and are of fundamental import. Yet, according to recent surveys (Gallup, 2008), 44 % of Americans say they do not accept evolution in any form, and a shockingly small number, only 14%, say they believe in naturalistic evolution. A century and a half after the publication of the Origin of Species, there remains considerable cultural resistance to teaching this “controversial ” subject in schools. Many explanations have been proffered for this disconnect between scientific consensus and citizen acceptance. Prominent among these explanations is that conflict with religious belief is the principal cause of objections to evolution (Numbers, 1992; Scott & Branch, 2003; Witham, 2002). While acknowledging the importance of religious objections, this chapter proceeds from the assumption that another major cause of rejection of evolution is the cognitive difficulty of understanding the evolutionary process. In this regard, we place evolution in a class of processes known as emergent processes that are notoriously difficult for