For teaching science, you count on certain edtech resources to extend and impact your students' educational goals, so they must be designed with care. Have you ever wondered what it takes to produce the programs used in your classroom? Products, like Gizmos STEM Cases, that make learning come alive for students require extensive behind-the-scenes planning and expertise to deliver engaging and effective instruction.
What’s a Gizmo STEM Case?
Included as part of Gizmos, STEM Cases engage students to become active learners by presenting authentic scenarios that put them in the roles of STEM professionals tasked with solving real-world problems. During the virtual labs, students learn scientific concepts, use critical thinking, and apply scientific practices as follows:
- Learn the science
- Collect data
- Analyze and interpret data
- Form a hypothesis
- Test the hypothesis
- Communicate findings
Bring science to life with real-world STEM Cases
The interactive online case studies let students form and test ideas to find solutions — just like real scientists. Our STEM Cases encourage hands-on exploration, promoting a dynamic learning environment that sparks curiosity and enthusiasm. Teaching STEM is taken to the next level.
Director of STEM Case Production Jared Jackson, Learning Designer Lauren Schetne, Ph.D., and STEM Cases Art Director Hilary Pierce lift the veil on the STEM Cases production process. Let’s take a sneak peek.
How are Gizmos STEM Case topics selected?
The Gizmos team starts by looking at Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the current catalog of STEM Cases to identify parts of the curriculum that need coverage. Jackson said, “We also engage in asking teachers directly which topics are the hardest to teach.”
Many team members are former teachers who use their personal experiences in the classroom to guide brainstorming sessions. Collab Crew members also help share common areas of struggle for students.
Connecting with STEM professionals
Since our STEM simulations ask students to assume the roles of STEM professionals, part of the design process includes connecting with those working in STEM fields to make sure the content is accurate. Schetne often starts searching for potential STEM Pros on LinkedIn. On some occasions, groups have found us, which resulted in our partnership with the James River Association for the River Detective: The Case of the Missing Shad STEM Case.
Schetne worked with four different professionals for the Tackling Concussions: Testing Helmet Design Using Laws of Motion STEM Case. “I have had great luck with connections through employees at ExploreLearning,” she said. “Our STEM Pros have also been really helpful in sharing other contacts they know who could help – which also happened for me with the STEM Case about concussions.”
The Team Behind Gizmos STEM Cases
Production of STEM Cases is a deeply collaborative effort. There is a multidisciplinary team – content writers, artists, and developers – who come in at various points to lend specific expertise. Pierce said, “Our illustrators create beautiful initial assets, which then are animated by our team of animators who take what the illustrators do and bring them to life! Our UI/UX designer integrates backgrounds and props with progression and interaction that moves the student through content goals. We also have a sound designer who soundtracks STEM Cases and develops sound effects for all buttons for added ambiance!”
A glimpse of the production process for a new STEM Case
It doesn’t stop there. “Towards the end of the process, our page implementers bring it all home. Everyone’s hard work comes together to be showcased in the final implementation of all assets, content, and new features created by our talented developers,” said Pierce.
What's involved in the production process of a Gizmos STEM Case?
“The production process is broken down into distinct stages of development,” said Jackson.
“The goal in creating distinct phases is to be as efficient as possible in exploring ideas, visual brainstorming, and then locking in our approach. This process allows our artists to work quickly and dynamically when needed, but also have enough space to develop truly beautiful finished work for the final deliverable,” said Pierce. “At each stage of the process, content and developers are given oversight and opportunities to review a huge amount of work from the design team. These reviews happen in review meetings wherein everyone can evaluate the effectiveness of what is being created and give feedback. By rapidly iterating on design ideas, everyone is able to understand the trajectory of a case and ensure that their priorities are accounted for and represented accurately in all asset designs/decisions.”
Storyboard for an upcoming STEM Case
According to Jackon, each STEM Case goes through these steps in the process:
- Topic research and STEM Pro outreach
- Outlining STEM Case story and learning
- Planning and previsualization of assets
- Writing the final text of the STEM Case
- Storyboarding using the final text and previsualized assets
- Create final assets
- Assemble STEM Case and write any needed code for new features
- Handoff to QA (Quality Assurance) to finalize the process and create release materials
What is QA? Think of it as “play testing” of the STEM Case. Jackson said, “What QA does is play through the STEM Case on lots of different devices and browsers to check for any problems. They also make sure the heatmap is working as expected by testing the grading as the teacher.”
What’s next for Gizmos STEM Cases?
Four new STEM Cases are currently in the pipeline. The lineup includes newly released Tackling Concussions: Testing Helmet Design Using Laws of Motion. More ideas will keep coming, though. Brainstorming sessions for future STEM Cases don’t stop!
Join our Collab Crew to stay in the loop about new STEM Cases and all things related to Gizmos, including opportunities to work with our team.
With interactive Gizmos STEM Cases, science gets real!
With interactive STEM Cases, science gets real! Students learn through experience as they build a life-long skill set in STEM, opening the doors to countless opportunities for future study and career possibilities.
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