Game 7 Informed Consent

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

INFORMED CONSENT page 1
Overview. When NASA invited Ray Bradbury, The Martian
Chronicles (1985) author, to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to
view photos from the first landing on Mars as they first arrived,
the famed writer said his own excitement about space and the
inspiration of many scientists had been the fantastic technology
envisioned in pre-Space Age science fiction. NASA and the
NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future seek to inspire
tomorrow’s scientists in a similar way, but this time not with the
written word, but through a medium today’s kids relate to—an
online game, albeit an educational one. The concept is
simple—kids play the game, then go look up at the moon.
Selene (the Greek lunar goddess) is a multilevel, single-player
lunar game. Selene will study how concrete, game-based
experiences can prepare learners to learn.
Purpose of the research study. NASA believes games can
prepare people with just the right knowledge to be successful at
learning. The Selene game introduces players ages 13-18 to
concepts about the moon’s geology. Classroom of the Future™
researchers will track players’ gameplay to study how the Selene
environment helps them to learn about the moon’s geology.
Expected duration. The entire game session of video and
gameplay should take each player about one hour. However, the
length of time a learner spends on the study session depends on
how long the learner plays the game. After completing the
study, players can choose to return to the Selene play web site
(http://selene.cet.edu) to play the game as often as they wish.
Procedures to be followed.
• All players must be sponsored by a Selene project
recruiter.
• Recruiters will distribute this informed consent form to
parents/legal guardians.
• Recruiters must obtain verbal permission from parents
for each player.
• Recruiters will distribute an access code to each eligible
player.
• Selene players must be able to see, hear, and physically
control the computer mouse and keyboard. Parents
must verify their child/ward has these three abilities.
• Players will log on to http://selene.cet.edu/play.
• Players will register with a unique, made-up user name.
The game will assign a password to each player.
• Players must record their user name and password in a
www.nasa.gov

safe place. The game will not collect any personally
identifiable information, so a player who forgets user
name and password will not be able to access the game.
• Selene will ask each player to provide:
o Mother’s/Female guardian’s highest levels of
education (no high school degree, high school degree,
college degree, master’s degree, Ph.D., or M.D.
degree).
o Father’s/Male guardian’s highest levels of education
(no high school degree, high school degree, college
degree, master’s degree, Ph.D., or M.D. degree).
o Player’s gender (male/female).
o Player’s ethnicity/race (African, African-American,
Asian, Caribbean, Hispanic, Mixed, Native
American, White, Other).
o Player’s school grade level.
o Player’s academic grade point average (A-F: Please
translate numeric GPAs as 4.0=A, 3.0-3.9=B,
2.0-2.9=C, 1.0-1.9=D, 0-0.9=F).
o City, state, and ZIP code.
Please prepare your child/ward with this information.
• Players will not provide any personal contact
information or their names.
• Players will complete an introductory module, level one
of the game, and level two of the game.
• The game will track all player actions in a database.
• All player data is anonymous. All player activity will be
logged to the player’s made-up username and password.
• Throughout the game, the Selene game will ask each
player to report his/her level of skill and challenge.
The prompt will ask two questions:

Low

High

How challenged was the activity?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

How skilled were you at the activity?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

• After a player finishes the experiment’s game session, the
player will have access to:
o Replay the game.
o Complete short activities about the moon either
alone or with friends and family.
o Investigate moon-related resources.
• Players may return to the Selene site at any time and as
often as they wish.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

INFORMED CONSENT page 2
Any foreseeable risks or discomforts. There should be no
risks associated with this study beyond those normally
experienced in everyday life. Participation by players is
voluntary. They may withdraw from the study at any time.
Players may withdraw from the study by closing their web
browser. There is no penalty or loss of status to players who
withdraw; however, they will not be able to access the
postgame resources or replay the game.
Benefits to subject or to others that may result from this
research. Study participants will have fun while learning how
NASA scientists explain the origin of the planets, Earth, and
our moon. The results of this important research will enhance
the effectiveness of instruction.
Alternative procedures or courses of treatment. There are
many ways to deliver instruction—Selene is one way. Selene is
a game to prepare players for future learning. The project does
not provide alternative instructional delivery systems for
teaching about lunar geology.
Confidentiality. All data collection is anonymous. No player
names, contact information, or personal identifiers will be
collected by Selene. Please note that for each player the game
system will track all gameplay and all usage of the site.
Participant rights. The participant has the right to ask
pertinent questions about the research, subjects’ rights, and
research-related injury to the subject. Subjects can contact the
Selene research team through e-mail at [email protected] or by
telephone (304-243-2479) between 9:15 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Eastern time Monday through Thursday.
Project Lead Researcher: Dr. Debbie Denise Reese
Project Research Assistant: Lisa McFarland (304-243-2479)
Center for Educational Technologies
Wheeling Jesuit University
Wheeling, WV 26003
E-mail: [email protected]
Participant responsibilities.
• Keep the details of the Selene game a secret from other
potential players.
• Keep the registration access code a secret from other
potential players.
• Keep user name and password secret.
www.nasa.gov

• Never share user name and password.
• Never let anyone else use his/her user name and
password to access the game or site.
• Make sure the computer station is ready to play the
game. The game is a Java- and Flash-based Internet
application. It can be played on either a Windows or
Macintosh platform. Windows users need at least the
Internet Explorer 6 or Firefox web browser. Mac users
access the game through Safari or Firefox. Each
computer used to play the game will need:
o Java 1.4.
o Flash 7 player.
o Sound (headset or speakers).
Selene expectations.
• Selene expects each player to try hard to accomplish
game goals.
• Selene expects each player to complete the entire study
session.
• Selene will track all player interaction with the Selene
web site during and after the Selene study session.
• Selene owns all data collected through the Selene site.
Institutional Review Board. The Institutional Review Board
at Wheeling Jesuit University has approved this study.
Participants with questions about their rights as human subjects
may contact the board chair, Dr. Beverly Carter, (304)
243-2340, [email protected].
By giving my oral consent to a Selene recruiter, I am agreeing
that my child/ward may participate in the Selene study, as
summarized above. My child/ward is 13 to 18 years old. My
child has the physical and mental ability to see and react to the
computer screen images, hear the computer’s audio signal, and
physically manipulate the mouse and computer keyboard. I
realize that the Selene password and access code must remain
confidential, and my child/ward may not share it with any
other person. I realize that my child/ward must give an honest
effort to play the Selene game from the beginning of the study
session to the end, although my child may withdraw from the
study by closing the computer browser at any time. I realize
that my child may access Selene any time, 24/7. Selene will
continue to provide activities and resources to players after they
complete the study. I realize that Selene will track all player
activity while logged onto the Selene site.