Johnathon's+Educational+Games+Review

===Now how are these two games similar? These two games use the similar method of interaction moving the cursor across the screen and clicking the mouse to get things done. Where CSI differs is that what you are clicking on and what your goals are two very different things. In the first case on CSI you are a new rookie forensic specialist and your tasks are to go through training. The one that I chose to highlight from the different trainings comes with a warning. Here is an image of the gruesome details.===

===This training is designed to teach you procedures for each area of lab work. Once completed you are allowed to go out into the field and work on crime scenes. Each level of game play increases in difficulty and changes the way you interact in the game. If you get stuck the supervisor will give you hints and tell you if you are done at that location or not. However you are left to figure out where the clues you have collected need to go to in the lab that make sense. During the game you have to select different tools like swabs and impression gel. You pick up terminology and skills that allow you to complete the objectives.===

===Now for Refraction this game uses the same method of moving. Then your goals are to power the spaceships that run on power. Through ever growing difficulty you learn different concepts of fractions. Here is an image of the things you have to do.=== ===As you can see there are parts that split the power in half and then split it into thirds. There are pieces that refract the power at a new angle. Later in the game you come across parts that combine the beams for higher powers.===

===Both games use the Ongoing Learning Principle. CSI uses the Multimodal Principle as it uses sounds and imagery to teach you the correct procedures. CSI uses the Intuitive Knowledge principle to help you become more and more experienced and allows you to slip into Flow. The game Refraction uses the Incremental principle to steadily challenge your growing skills.===

===I could see using Refraction in two ways. One being that you use it to illustrate the concept of refraction in science. The other using it as a way to strengthen students’ ideas about fractions and how they split from the whole and can combined to make a whole.===

===CSI would have to be used in the higher grades. Nothing below Eighth grade as the subject matter is difficult to introduce. The discussion of murder and everything that a forensic specialist deals with would be understandably to graphic for younger students. I think that this would be a great way to have the students explore chemistry, biology, health, and the forensics department as an area of study.===