MOONSHOT: REDESIGNING NASA’S HIGH SCHOOL

and met regularly, specific subgroups of the design teammet daily, bi-weekly, and/or weekly from May to August tomake design and development decisions.Virtual Design SpaceOur Microsoft Teams planning space was populated with aGeneral channel that embedded our OneNote notebook.The notebook was organized into sections for a task chart,apps, game levels, the evaluation plan, content standards,course handbooks, NASA consultants and game moderatortraining, a timeline, names/acronyms reference, questions,welcoming/closing ceremonies, and lessons learned forfuture iterations (see Figure 2). Existing channels for Budgetand Finance, Evaluation, and IT Systems were used to storekey files and hold chat conversations.Once the educational specialists shared their developedinstructional materials in OneNote, our instructional designervetted them for clarity and language before developingthem as assignments in Canvas. We discussed the look andfeel of each assignment during regular meetings of themain design team. When the illustrations developmentsubgroup finalized and approved the graphics, which weredesigned using NASA-approved style guidelines for font andappearance, our instructional designer presented severaloptions for navigating the course using html image maps.Eventually, our beta testers and game moderators tested thecourse created in our virtual design space, and we importeda revised version of it into each section for our studentimplementation.Regular Design Team MeetingsVIRTUAL ONSITE CONCEPTUALIZATIONVirtual meetings were held through Microsoft Teams, soaccess to shared files, chat, and collaborative notetakingwas all available in one tool. The main design team, whichwas composed of the NSPACE PI, NSPACE lead educationcoordinator, STEM collaborations lead coordinator, externalevaluator, instructional designer, and STEM content specialist, met weekly for the first month, changing to bi-weekly atthe end of June. The IT specialist and graphic designer wereadded to the main design team meetings in June. Examplesof topics addressed in these meetings include gamificationstrategies; design of course graphics; course content alignedwith standards; third-party software acquisition, installation,and integration into Canvas; beta testing procedures; formative and summative assessment; and evaluation.Each of the design team members contributed to theconceptualization of a virtual experience that would affordall 656 completers of the 16-week online course (rather thana select group of completers) the opportunity to participatein an authentic mission and complete hands-on engineeringdesign challenges without travelling to JSC.Virtual Planning SpaceThe STEM collaborations lead coordinator met daily withthe three HAS educational specialists who designed anddeveloped course content; collectively, these four designteam members make up NSPACE’s HAS staff. During thesemeetings, the HAS educational specialists shared updates,discussed problems they were having, and were assignednew tasks.The NSPACE lead education coordinator, STEM collaborationslead coordinator, and the graphic designer met bi-weekly todevelop the images representing the levels and quests in theMoonshot course. Purposely, this illustrations developmentsubgroup used NASA images to give a realistic feeling to thegamified course.An evaluation subgroup that included the NSPACE PI,NSPACE lead education coordinator, STEM collaborationslead education coordinator, and external evaluator metweekly to ensure evaluation questions were embeddedinto each level. Questions developed required students toreflect upon the mission-planning experience, STEM identity,content knowledge, and course design.IJDL 2021 Volume 12, Issue 1 Pages 140-157“How Gamified Do You Want It to Be?”Our first main design team meeting shaped the overall visionfor the virtual gamified experience we designed. At thebeginning of the meeting, the NSPACE PI, NSPACE lead education coordinator, and STEM collaborations lead presentedthe delivery method approved by the JSC Director to therest of the main design team. Additionally, they stressed theimportance of making the virtual onsite experience distinctlydifferent than the 16-week online course completed by HASstudents; after all, students were missing out on an opportunity to attend an all-expenses-paid, six-day experience at aNASA space center, interact with peers from around the statewho had similar interests, and engage in formal and informalconversations with members of the NASA workforce. Thevirtual onsite experience needed to be a worthy alternativethat engaged students in similar ways.In response to this presentation, our team’s instructionaldesigner asked, “Well, how gamified do you want [the virtualonsite course] to be?” A few moments of silence passed,and as if everyone’s peripheral glances within the MicrosoftTeams meeting secured eye contact and a clear response,the STEM collaborations lead coordinator replied, “Asgamified and interactive as you can make it—what did youhave in mind?”Before discussing the design constraints that extendedbeyond the LMS (see Design Constraints, below), our instructional designer proffered a concept that she likened toworlds in Super Mario World for Super Nintendo (Nintendo,143

1990). Like Super Mario World, students would navigate a“world” by completing quests on a map of the world, andstudents could access “bonus areas” by completing sidequest challenges. Unlike Super Mario World, students couldonly complete each world in a sequential manner; theywould not have the opportunity to warp to another world—therefore skipping one or more before it—because of thelearning objectives and systems engineering that needed tobe incorporated into the virtual onsite experience.Although nothing official was decided at the end of thismeeting, the idea of creating maps for each level (aka world)of the experience resonated with the NSPACE lead educationcoordinator and STEM collaborations lead coordinator asthey began to envision what was possible with a virtual onsite experience. They began discussing the concept with ourgraphic designer and decided that they wanted to proceedwith the concept as long as it was gamified, clearly distinctfrom the 16-week online course, and accommodated theadditional design constraints.Design ConstraintsAs noted by Jonassen (2008), “Virtually all forms of analysisin instructional design are aimed at identifying and accommodating to various constraints.” The design of Moonshotwas no different, and while each constraint influenced thedesign decisions we made, none hindered the concept ofthe course we sought to design and develop.The first constraint was the need to use a specific LMS:Canvas. Not only did NSPACE use Canvas for its online STEMengagement experiences, but also all students would befamiliar with the platform, making it a seamless transitionto this online experience. That said, our second constraintwas the need to distinguish the Moonshot virtual onsiteexperience from the 16-week online course that servesas the first part of the full HAS activity. Students knew ifthey successfully completed the 16-week online course, itwould make them eligible to be selected to attend a six-dayonsite experience at JSC, which was part two of the full HASactivity. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down JSC tovisitors, many students were disappointed, which requiredus to develop an engaging experience where students feltconnected with one another—much like they would if theywere onsite.Our third constraint consisted of using approved tools todesign and develop the course. NASA’s list of approved toolslimited what applications could be used to collaborate onthe design and development of the course as well as the applications that could be integrated into the course. As we began collaborating as a design team within those constraints(i.e., Microsoft Teams), it became clear that we needed toinclude external tools to distinguish Moonshot from theother HAS online course (see Design Decisions, below). AfterIJDL 2021 Volume 12, Issue 1 Pages 140-157surveying students to assess the technology they wouldhave available to complete the course, we learned that eachstudent had access to both a computer (desktop or laptop)and a mobile device. We evaluated a number of tools to helpus achieve our goals; however, a subgroup of the designteam composed of the NSPACE PI, assistant director focusedon logistics, assistant director of handling purchasing andpersonnel, and IT specialist met with vendors, discussed eachtool, conducted additional evaluation, and made decisionsabout each tool’s approval.Since HAS is a NASA activity run through a cooperativeagreement with a university, all federal government ITsecurity requirements as well as university institutionalreview board policies for working with minors factored intodecisions regarding apps to use and which features of thoseapps could be used. Unlike using an LMS with a schooldistrict or university, students enrolled in NSPACE onlinecourses are not issued a domain-specific email address;students are enrolled with login ids that are connected toa student-provided personal email account. Because of thisconstraint, our use of external tools had to be strategic, easilyaccessible by students, and not connected to a specific suiteof tools. Additionally, for evaluation purposes, we sought tointegrate tools in such a way that student performance dataand all survey responses collected from a variety of appswould be tied to each student’s individual login id.DESIGN DECISIONSThe redesign of the HAS onsite experience was guided byseven of Bonk and Dennen’s (2005) principles for creatingmassive multiplayer online games: Achievement, Distributed,Multiple Routes, Practice, Probing, “Regime of Competence,”and Self-knowledge. In addition to these gaming principles,the redesign drew on Kopcha et al.’s (2016) five elements ofa gamified course design—levelling up, badges and awards,mastery-focused, quests, and a boss level—to organizethe experience, embed each of the gaming principles, andreinforce the gaming environment. Each design decision wassupported by one of the seven gaming principles, alignedwith one or more gaming elements, and leveraged specificexternal tools for evaluation purposes (see Table 1). Forexample, the Achievement principle recognizes learnerrewards for mastery; elements associated with rewardsfor mastery align with levelling up, badges and awards,mastery-focused, and quests. During our design decisionprocess, we determined a badging app would be mostappropriate to align with this principle and element. Badgrwas selected for its available learning tools interoperability(LTI) for integration into Canvas, flexibility in importingoriginal graphics, and ease of use. Similar alignment effortsare presented in Table 1.The gamified onsite experience was designed in Canvas,which is the same LMS that all HAS students experienced144

GAMING PRINCIPLEDESIGN DECISIONGAMIFIED ELEMENTEXTERNAL TOOLSAchievementLearners are rewarded at each levelfor mastering knowledge and skills.Learners receive badges and unlock rewardsafter the successful completion of each questand each level. Levelling UpBadges & AwardsMastery-focusedQuests BadgrDistributedLearners grow by interacting withother learners, technology, andtools.Learners work in teams to complete PDR builds.All teams work together to successfully completethe mission. The online environment engageslearners with a variety of technological tools. QuestsBoss Level GooseChasePadletProntoMultiple RoutesLearners can progress and in morethan one way, which encouragesthem to be decision makers andproblem solvers.Teams of learners have a choice about the focusof their team’s mission and build. Within thequests, individual learners make decisions abouthow and what to contribute to the mission. Levelling UpQuestsBoss Level GooseChasePadletProntoQualtricsPracticeLearners spend time practicing in acompelling context.Learners practice and apply content learnedindividually and as a team using a variety of tools. Levelling UpQuests GooseChasePadletProntoProbingLearners are encouraged to engagein cycles of inquiry.Learners engage in guided inquiry that leads todecisions they make about their team’s missionand how the alignment of all teams’ decisionswill result in a successful mission to the moon. Levelling UpMastery-focusedQuests PadletPronto“Regime of Competence”Learners are challenged to pushbeyond their comfort and/or currentability zone (in an attainable andsafe way).Learners are pushed to apply systems engineering, science, technology, and math conceptsindividually, in small groups, and as a large groupby leveraging a variety of tools. Levelling UpQuestsMaster-focusedBoss Level dgeLearners learn about the learningenvironment and themselvesthrough the gamified experience.Learners reflect on their learning and how theexperience connects to their STEM identity. Levelling UpBadges & AwardsMastery-focusedQuestsBoss Level BadgrFlipgridGooseChasePadletProntoQualtricsTABLE 1. Alignment of the design decisions with the gaming principles, gamified elements, and external tools for evaluation.during the 16-week online course. Although students hadprevious experience with Canvas, this was the first timethey participated in a gamified learning environment withthe HAS activity. Because the vocabulary used in gamifiedlearning environments is an important component thatcan contribute to learners’ engagement (Deterding et al.,2011; Stansberry & Haselwood, 2017), we intentionally used“quests” in lieu of “assignments” and “levels” in lieu of “modules” for the purpose of transforming the traditional Canvasenvironment students were accustomed to into a uniqueand memorable environment (see Figures 2-4)—much likethe experience they would traditionally have at JSC.Six external tools were carefully selected to integrate withcourse content to support the gamified elements and overallcourse evaluation: Badgr, Flipgrid, GooseChase, Padlet,Pronto, and Qualtrics (see Table 2). Badgr adds gamifiedelements to online courses through badges and leaderboards; the tool creates an alias name for students to protectIJDL 2021 Volume 12, Issue 1 Pages 140-157their privacy while showing each individual’s progressionin the course on the leaderboard. Badgr allowed badgesto be awarded after the completion of each quest. Flipgridis a video discussion tool. Students were required to usethis tool to introduce themselves to their peers and gamemoderators in Level I. GooseChase is a mobile applicationthat allows participants to complete virtual scavenger hunts.GooseChase missions require a variety of submission types,such as 300 characters of text, photos, or 15-second videos. Students were required to complete an individual anda team scavenger hunt during Level 2. Padlet is a discussionboard platform for virtual brainstorming, organization, anddocumentation using text, images, videos, links, and files.Students used Padlet in all three levels for team activities andPDR research documentation. Qualtrics is an online surveyplatform. Students were required to submit consent forms,formative assessments, and reflections using this platformduring each level.Pronto is a group video and text chat toolthat allows users to text, video chat, livestream, file share,145

QUESTSEXTERNALTOOLDESCRIPTION & PURPOSELEVEL ILEVEL IILEVEL IIIBadgrBadgr adds gamified elements to online courses through badges and leaderboards; the tool creates an alias name for students to protect their privacywhile showing each individual’s progression in the course on the leaderboard.Badgr allowed badges to be awarded after the completion of each quest.1, 2, 3, 4,5, 61, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7, 81, 2, 3, 4FlipgridFlipgrid is a video discussion tool. Students were required to use this tool tointroduce themselves to their peers and game moderators.3GooseChaseGooseChase is a mobile application that allows participants to completevirtual scavenger hunts. GooseChase missions require a variety of submissiontypes, such as 300 characters of text, photos, or 15-second videos. Studentswere required to complete an individual and a team scavenger hunt.PadletPadlet is a discussion board platform for virtual brainstorming, organization,and documentation using text, images, videos, links, and files. Students wererequired to use Padlet for team activities and PDR research documentation.3, 42, 3, 4, 5,6, 71, 2ProntoPronto is a group video and text chat tool that allows users to text, videochat, livestream, file share, send announcements to groups, and translatelanguages. Throughout each level, students were required to communicateand collaborate with their teams and game moderators using Pronto.3, 4, 5, 64, 5, 73QualtricsQualtrics is an online survey platform. Students were required to submitconsent forms, formative assessments, and reflections using this platform.1, 2, 5, 71, 843, 4TABLE 2. A description of the external tools, their purpose, and when they were used.send announcements to groups, and translate languages.Throughout each level, students were required to communicate and collaborate with their teams and game moderatorsusing Pronto. Because of the federal government IT securityrequirements and university institutional review boardpolicies for working with minors, we were unable to use allof the features available in Pronto. Each team had a channelfor communicating and collaborating that a game moderator monitored, answering team questions and making surecommunications were professional. Students requested toalso use the private chat feature of Pronto to easily collaborate with specific members of their team; however, sincethey were minors and university policy on working withminors recommends adult supervision of minors during allpeer-to-peer activities, we were unable to use the privatechat feature.Five of the six tools were embedded in Canvas using the LTIfeature: Badgr, Flipgrid, Padlet, Pronto, and Qualtrics. Usingthe LTI features allowed for seamless integrations, whichconnected Flipgrid, Padlet, and Qualtrics submissions tothe gradebook. GooseChase was the only external tool thatrequired a mobile device application. Badgr, Padlet, Pronto,and Qualtrics were used in each level of the course, whileFlipgrid was only used in Level 1, and GooseChase was onlyused in Level 2.Most of the elements from the proposed redesign (Figure2) were included in the virtual experience; however, sideIJDL 2021 Volume 12

Leidos—NASA Johnson Space Center; 3. NSPACE—NASA Johnson Space Center. Moonshot is the redesign of NASA’s High School Aerospace . Scholars (HAS), which traditionally engaged Texas high . school juniors in a 16-week online course for credit and an intense week-long onsite experience working in teams with experts at NASA’s Johnson Space .