Preparing Middle School Students for College Through an Innovative Online Game Intervention

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Where Is the “Ready” in College Readiness? Defining Its Many Faces and Phases

Abstract

Far too frequently, college access resources tend to also focus on high school juniors and seniors, limiting critical outreach to younger students where intervention could potentially have a greater impact. This project describes an innovative approach developed by game designers and researchers to create an online role-playing game to engage middle school students in the college readiness process. This paper shares findings from a mixed-methods study designed to assess the effectiveness of the intervention and highlights observational data from play sessions at three middle schools serving exclusively low-income students. Findings illustrate that game-based learning engages students, promotes deeper understandings of college and career knowledge among middle school students and encourages college and career-related peer interactions.

Authors

• Zoe Corwin, University of Southern California

• Jessica Evora, University of California - Los Angeles