Award Data

This project team will fully develop and test AlphaBear 2, a vocabulary learning game for grade 4 to 7 students. Vocabulary is a prerequisite for academic success, as it is linked to stronger performance across academic subjects and improved reading comprehension. It is more difficult for students to participate in educational activities without understanding the key vocabulary associated with tha ...

In prior projects, including a 2015 ED/IES SBIR award, the team developed two immersive multiplayer virtual game environments. In Eco and Colony, middle school students collaboratively apply scientific practices within the virtual worlds to address challenges, such as the availability of resources and energy and maintaining clean water. With this Phase I funding, the team is developing a prototype ...

In prior research and development, the team developed AlphaBear, a mobile gaming app where students are challenged to spell words which are then used to create humorous sentences. This project will develop and test a prototype for use specifically by English Learners. The prototype will formatively assess students' vocabulary, adjust gameplay to the skill levels of individual students, and provide ...

In this Phase II program, improved performance SWIR sensors with extended wavelength response to 2.5 microns will be developed using two disruptive technologies, which Amethyst has successfully demonstrated in the Phase I program: unipolar barrier (e.g., nBn) detector structures, and defect passivation via hydrogenation. This two-pronged approach addresses the main performance limitation of extend ...

The project team is developing and testing a prototype of a computer science game-based intervention intended for Grade 1 students. The prototype will include physical robots that will be designed and controlled on a game board by students through a blue-tooth enabled smartphone app. The product will include teacher resources and suggestions to facilitate classroom integration. In the Phase I pilo ...

This project team will develop and test a prototype of LifeSim, intended to be a financial literacy game app for high school students to strengthen mathematical skills and practical life knowledge. In the game, high school students will manage hypothetical investment funds and be challenged to understand compounded interest and debt. The app will include materials for math teachers to integrate th ...

Video Demonstration of the Phase I Prototype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsvXXII2zzw&index=5&list=PLVHqsnePfULrUf_-HwtRfwEYsb9patGd- Purpose: This project will develop and test Eco, an online multiplayer virtual environment and game designed to enhance middle school students' knowledge of ecology and environmental literacy. This is important because according to the 2011 National Assessment ...

The project team is developing a prototype of Eco, a multi-player game to prepare high school students to be environmentally literate citizens with 21st century skills. To play the game, students will enter a shared online world featuring a simulated ecosystem of plants and animals. Students will co-create the civilization by measuring, modeling, and analyzing the underlying ecosystem. Students ad ...

Improved performance SWIR sensors with extended wavelength response to 2.5 microns will be developed using two disruptive technologies with which Amethyst has demonstrated success: nBn detector structures and defect passivation via hydrogenation. Similar to conventional extended wavelength photodiodes, the improved sensors will based on mismatched InGaAs grown on graded buffer layers on InP substr ...

Stirling Technology Company (STC) has developed several Free-Piston Stirling Engine (FPSE) generators with outputs ranging from 10 W to 3 kW. These engines are very quiet, adaptable to virtually any fuel, and can run continuously. However, existing units are relatively heavy. STC proposes to leverage over 2 decades of development into a Special Operations Power System (SOPS) that directly addresse ...