RAPT Lab: Representations, Activity, Play, and Technology Lab

Projects: Science through Technology Enhanced Play (STEP)

In the Science through Technology Enhanced Play (STEP) project, we are investigating how embodied play among elementary school students can be used to help them understand scientific phenomena (e.g., the working of forces, complex behaviors of bees).

Below is an image of a recent implementation of our most recent version, GEM-STEP, in action. Here you can see children in the classroom pretending to be fish. As they do this, the GEM-STEP system tracks their locations using tags on their hats and uses that information to control fish in the simulation at the bottom of the image. This simulation is then projected for the students to see as they play. In this activity, the students are exploring how the fish in a pond ecosystem are dependent on the algae for survival, and how the algae are in-turn dependent on the sun. Our theoretical framework for embodied learning (Danish et al., 2020) highlights how youth learn in this kind of activity by attending to both their individual embodied experience of moving around, and their social, collective experience of coordinating their movement as they explore this system.

This video illustrates using the STEP-BEES platform:

Funding for the the iterations of the STEP Project

Grant Name	Funding Agency	Grant Number	Co-PIs
Generalized Embodied Modeling to support Science through Technology Enhanced Play	NSF	1908632 & 1908791	Joshua Danish, Noel Enyedy, Corey Brady
DIP: Interactive Science through Technology Enhanced (ISTEP)	NSF	1628918	Joshua Danish, Noel Enyedy
EXP: Promoting Learning through Annotation of Embodiment (PLAE)	NSF	1522945	Joshua Danish, Noel Enyedy
DIP: The Science Through Technology Enhanced Play (STEP)	NSF	1323767	Joshua Danish, Noel Enyedy

Publications on the STEP Project

2022

Danish, J., Anton, G., Mathayas, N., Jen, T., Vickery, M., Lee, S., Tu, X., Cosic, L., Zhou, M., Ayalon, E., Steinberg, S., Enyedy, N., & Ryan, Z. (2022). Designing for Shifting Learning Activities. The Journal of Applied Instructional Design, 11(4). https://dx.doi.org/10.51869/114/jdabc paper

2021

Dahn, M., Lee, C., Enyedy, N., & Danish, J. (2021). Instructional improv to analyze inquiry-based science teaching: Zed’s dead and the missing flower. Smart Learning Environments, 8(1). paper
DeLiema, D., Enyedy, N., Steen, F., & Danish, J. A. (2021). Integrating Viewpoint and Space: How Lamination across Gesture, Body Movement, Language, and Material Resources Shapes Learning. Cognition and Instruction, 1-38. paper
Keifert, D., Xiao, C., Enyedy, N., & Danish, J. (2021). Learners as phenomena: Expansive inquiry as students embody water particles. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 31, 100572.
Lee, C., Humburg, M., Georgen, C., Enyedy, N., & Danish, J. (2021). Playful Discourse Practices in Guided Play Learning Environments. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2021.. International Society of the Learning Sciences. paper
Tu, X., Georgen, C., Danish, J. A., & Enyedy, N. (2021). Elementary students learning science in an MR environment by constructing liminal blends through action on props. Information and Learning Sciences, ahead-of-print. paper
Vickery, M., Danish, J., Tu, X., & Zhou, M. B. G. (2021). Scientific Modeling Practices Through Perspective Taking in a Mixed Reality Embodied Learning Environment. Paper presented at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS).

2020

Danish, J. A., Enyedy, N., Saleh, A., & Humburg, M. (2020). Learning in embodied activity framework: a sociocultural framework for embodied cognition. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 15(1), 49-87. doi:10.1007/s11412-020-09317-3 paper
Davis, B. N., Tu, X., Humburg, M. A., Georgen, C., Danish, J., & Enyedy, N. D. (2020). An Analysis of Supplementary Guided Play Activities to Enhance Embodied Science Learning Within Classroom Contexts. Paper presented at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, CA (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).
Humburg, M. (2020). Engagement in Motion: How the Body Mediates Social and Emotional Engagement With Science Learning. In Gresalfi, M. and Horn, I. S. (Eds.). (2020). The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020, Volume 2, 1039-1046. Nashville, Tennessee: International Society of the Learning Sciences. paper
Keifert, D., Lee, C., Enyedy, N., Dahn, M., Lindberg, L., & Danish, J. (2020). Tracing bodies through liminal blends in a mixed reality learning environment. International Journal of Science Education, 1-23. doi:10.1080/09500693.2020.1851423
Tu, X., Danish, J. A., Humburg, M., Enyedy, N., & Keifert, D. (2020). Play and Embodiment: Designing for early elementary students’ strengths. In D. Keifert (Chair), Broadening Learning Sciences Theoretical lenses to understand young children’s sensemaking [Symposium]. In Gresalfi, M. and Horn, I. S. (Eds.). (2020). The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020, Volume 1, 390-397. Nashville, Tennessee: International Society of the Learning Sciences. abstract
Tu, X., Danish, J., Georgen, C., Humburg, M. A., Davis, B. N., & Enyedy, N. D. (2020). Using Props to Support Embodied Learning of Science Concepts in a Mixed-Reality Environment. Paper presented at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, CA (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).
Tu, X., Georgen, C., Danish, J., & Enyedy, N. (2020). Extended Embodiment: Physical and Conceptual Tools in a Mixed-Reality Learning Environment as Supports for Young Learners’ Exploration of Science Concepts. Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences

2019

Danish, J., Enyedy, N., Humburg, M., Davis, B., & Tu, X. (2019). Collective embodied activity and how different concepts map to social exploration. Paper presented at the International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, Lyon France. abstract
Davis, B., Tu, X., Georgen, C., Danish, J. A., & Enyedy, N. (2019). The impact of different play activity designs on students’ embodied learning. Information and Learning Sciences.
DeLiema, D., Enyedy, N., & Danish, J. A. (2019). Roles, Rules, and Keys: How Different Play Configurations Shape Collaborative Science Inquiry. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 28(4-5), 513-555.
Tu, X., Danish, J., Georgen, C., Humburg, M., Davis, B., & Enyedy, N. (2019). Examining How Scientific Modeling Emerges Through Collective Embodied Play. Paper presented at the International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, Lyon France. paper

2018

Dahn, M., Enyedy, N., & Danish, J. (2018). How Teachers Use Instructional Improvisation to Organize Science Discourse and Learning in a Mixed Reality Environment. In J. Kay & R. Luckin (Eds.), International Conference of the Learning Sciences. paper
Danish, J. A., Humburg, M., Tu, X., Davis, B., & Georgen, C. (2018). Modeling bees by acting as bees in a mixed reality simulation. In J. Kay & R. Luckin (Eds.), International Conference of the Learning Sciences. paper
Danish, J., Enyedy, N., Humburg, M., Saleh, A., Dahn, M., Lee, C., … Georgen, C. (2018). STEP-Bees and the Role of Collective Embodiment in Supporting Learning Within a System. In J. Kay & R. Luckin (Eds.), International Conference of the Learning Sciences. paper
Danish, J., Keifert, D., Enyedy, N., Humburg, M., Tu, X., Davis, B., & Lee, C. (2018). Embodiment Within Computational Models: Explorations of Agency and Normativity. Annual conference of the American Educational Research Association.
Davis, B., Tu, X., Danish, J., & Enyedy, N. (2018). The Structures of Embodied Play Activities and Their Impact on Students’ Exploration of the Particulate Nature of Matter. In J. Kay & R. Luckin (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences paper
Humburg, M., & Danish, J. (2018). Investigating Multiple Dimensions of Student Engagement with Embodied Science Learning. In J. Kay & R. Luckin (Eds.), International Conference of the Learning Sciences paper
Humburg, M., Keifert, D., Georgen, C., Lee, C., Tu, X., Danish, J., & Enyedy, N. (2018). The Challenge of Consistency in Sensemaking Resources Across Play and Assessment for Young Science Learners. Annual conference of the American Educational Research Association.
Keifert, D., Enyedy, N., Danish, J., Lee, C., Dahn, M., & Lindberg, L. (2018). Tracing Bodies Through Liminal Blends during Play-based Inquiry in a Mixed Reality Environment. In J. Kay & R. Luckin (Eds.), International Conference of the Learning Sciences. paper

2017

Danish, J. A., Enyedy, N., Saleh, A., Humburg, M., DeLiema, D., Dahn, M., & Lee, C. (2017). STEP-Bees: Coordinating embodied interaction with peers, teachers, and computer simulation to support learning. Annual conference of the American Educational Research Association.
Saleh, A., Danish, J., Humburg, M., & Enyedy, N. (2017). How body-based actions support elementary students’ science explanations about the particulate nature of matter. Annual conference of the American Educational Research Association.

2016

DeLiema, D., Enyedy, N., Danish, J., Lee, C., Illum, R., Dahn, M., … Mahoney, C. (2016). Blending Play and Inquiry in Augmented Reality: A Comparison of Playing a Video Game to Playing Within a Participatory Model. In International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 450-457). paper

2015

Danish, J. A. (2015). Collective and Participatory Embodiment: Science through Technology Enhanced Play (STEP) and BioSim. Association of Science-Technology Centers Annual Conference.
Danish, J. A., Enyedy, N., Saleh, A., Lee, C., & Andrade, A. (2015). Science Through Technology Enhanced Play: Designing to Support Reflection Through Play and Embodiment. In Exploring the Material Conditions of Learning: The Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) Conference (Vol. 1). The International Society of the Learning Sciences. paper