Image: Screenshot of the city from "Serious Game for Energy Science." Photo courtesy of Monica Trevathan, director of education technology at Tietronix Software, Inc. — Screenshot of the city from "Serious Game for Energy Science." Photo courtesy of Monica Trevathan, director of education technology at Tietronix Software Inc.

UHCL got game

By Kyle Upton Last updated Nov 22, 2015 144 0

UHCL is heading to Washington D.C.

A partnership between UHCL and Tietronix Software, Inc. successfully created two educational video games, which are going to be displayed for the first time at the 2015 ED Games Expo Dec. 9.

“We are excited to be invited by the U.S. Department of Education to showcase our games at this expo,” said Monica Trevathan, director of education technology at Tietronix Software Inc. “The partnership between Tietronix and UHCL has been successful in so many ways, and we are thrilled to share our story and our projects with others in the area of education technology.”

This all began when Trevathan and Jana Willis, department chair of Literacy, Library and Learning Technologies in the School of Education, discussed the emerging field of educational games, especially in the area of STEM education. They partnered to propose two educational-based games. This partnership included paid internships at Tietronix for students from UHCL.

“The students learned the importance of group work and communication,” Willis said. “If one person worked on a section by themself, then they would end up being a whole day behind and have to catch up.”

UHCL selected a team of students as apprentices to the team at Tietronix, which included software engineers, programmers and graphic artists. After the first game was completed, Tietronix hired two of the graduating programmers as full-time employees.

“Working with professional programmers as a student was an excellent experience,” said William Baker, software developer at Tietronix Software, Inc. and former intern from the UHCL team. “It gave me a glimpse of how computer science translates to the real world and how a team of professionals works together to create a product. The transition from school to the workplace was seamless. Starting as an intern and moving to a full-time employee at the same company was helpful, but UHCL did an excellent job preparing me for both.”

Willis and Trevathan will be traveling to Washington D.C. for the first time in December to display their two games at the 2015 ED Games Expo. The Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program, the Department of Ed, 1776 Venture Capitalist and Entertainment Software Association are sponsoring the event. The expo will showcase more than 25 game developers and many “games for learning” developed with the support of the SBIR programs.

One of the games the UHCL and Tietronix team created is called “Serious Game for Energy Science” for fourth and fifth graders. The game was created using the engine Unity; it took a work-filled six-month period to complete and is a prototype. The style of the game is similar to “The Sims”, but the colors are brighter and the people are cube shaped. The object of the game is to build power plants from different energy sources and monitor the effects of these creations, allowing teachers to assess what the students know and what they need to practice.

Image: Screenshot from the game "Code of Aegis" of different characters and the main character Sidney. Photo courtesy of Monica Trevathan, director of education technology at Tietronix Software Inc. — Screenshot from the game “Code of Aegis” of different characters and the main character Sidney. *Photo courtesy of Monica Trevathan, director of education technology at Tietronix Software Inc.*

The second game the UHCL and Tietronix team created is called “Aegis” aimed at grades sixth through eighth This is a multi-platform game that also contains a graphic novel. The students can experience a fun story whilst learning about robotics, programming logic and other educational subjects. This game was developed in two phases; it was completed in a year and a half, and will be a fully-developed game at the end of the project. It was also created using Unity as the game engine.

The plot of the game involves a character named Sidney who lives on Aegis, a planet that was destroyed causing the inhabitants to live underground. As the story evolves, Sidney is learning more about the ancients who built the underground world as she works to reunite with her mother and father who were sent to the planet’s surface. During the creation of the game, the students were asked their opinions of what they would like the main character to look like allowing them to be part of the design process. Students who play the game will solve the mystery by completing missions using science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The “Serious Game for Energy” Science was sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s STTR program, and “Aegis” was funded by DARPA’s SBIR program.

“Research shows that good games can assist the learning process by keeping students engaged in the educational content and motivating them through game play,” Trevathan said. “We hope this UHCL Tietronix partnership can foster new game ideas that will be filled with fun and learning!”