Hemonauts: Exploring In-Game Remediation for Health Literacy and STEM Learning

Abstract

Hemonauts is a digital game designed to increase STEM content knowledge and promote healthy lifestyle choices among children 9 – 14 years of age. The game provides engaging puzzle-based challenges staged in a world based on the physiology of the human body, depicting the workings of the circulatory system and two chronic diseases. This paper documents findings from a preliminary 10-week study of the game's impact on 199 school-aged students in the U.S. The study leveraged quantitative and qualitative data about game use and learning outcomes which demonstrated that Hemonauts is indeed an effective teaching tool. Furthermore, it revealed insights for the game design community about the cognitive load of learning remediation in games and ways that game mechanics can improve learning in educational play experiences, providing new perspectives on learning through game mechanics as metaphors.