Creating a game for refugee children in middle school to learn science

Abstract

There are 3.4 million refugee students around the world that are out of schools and not getting the education they deserve. In order to alleviate this, a game-based platform that can be played anywhere is under development. The goal is to verify the potential of digital games as a valuable tool for refugee students and highlight the significance of game-based language education more broadly. The game will supplement the middle school science curriculum, incorporating the Kansas Science Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. Using Unreal, we provide quests where the player will take pictures and learn about their surroundings. The content will be presented in the form of subtitles having both the refugee students' native language and English. We expect the game will become a free and accessible educational tool for refugee students and will contribute to the improvement of their opportunities for education, thereby helping them integrate into U.S. society. The long-term benefits of this project include a safe social setting for learning, freeing up time for parents, and reducing emotional trauma. While the science curriculum is currently in development, this can be expanded to math, biology, and more. Using this quest-based gameplay, the student will take tests over what they learn and earn in-game rewards such as customizing their own character.