Friday, February 18, 2000

Scholar Develops Computer Adventure Game for Girls By NINA WILLDORF Mary Flanagan used to walk up and down the aisles of computer stores, scanning the shelves for a game that featured minorities and women. She never found one. And even though she was a producer and designer at a software company, Ms. Flanagan had little opportunity to create such a game herself. Rather than give up, in 1997 Ms. Flanagan moved to academe, where she figured she'd be "allowed to take risks" -- instead of being forced to create game after game for boys, who are the usual computer-game audience. Now Ms. Flanagan is a 30-year-old assistant professor of media studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. And she is completing a game of the type she sought for so long: the Adventures of Josie True. It is a Web-based adventure game for girls ages 9 to 11. It features a spunky 11-year-old Chinese-American girl named Josie; a female African-American aviator called Bessie Coleman; and Josie's science teacher, Ms. Trombone, who is also an inventor. A player follows Josie back in time to Chicago and Paris in the 1920's to find Ms. Trombone, who has mysteriously disappeared. Incorporating science, math, and history, the game reinforces a fifth-grade science and math curriculum. Ms. Flanagan, who calls herself a "science geek," hopes to help girls get more comfortable with technology and to make learning about science and math fun. "The game uses math to help someone," she says. "I'm into scientific principles, making things hands-on." A preliminary version of the game is available online. Ms. Flanagan and the team of student interns helping her with the game expect to complete Josie's adventurous world by the end of the year. The game will be free on the Internet, and it also will be available for under $10 on CD-ROM, says Ms. Flanagan. While testing beta versions of games in her previous job, Ms. Flanagan watched girls and boys focus on different aspects of play. The girls would jump to narrative sections and linger there, while the boys would race to the end for a prize. So with the Adventures of Josie True, Ms. Flanagan is trying to create a game that caters to a variety of learning styles. For the girls who want to start an activity right away, the game offers a menu of options. For those more attracted to a narrative, characters in the story will lead them along, she says. Learning is interwoven in the adventure game. For example: In order to make money, Josie must make a batch of chili and finds herself mired in a recipe involving complex fractions. Ms. Flanagan says the game is filling what she believes to be a large and unfortunate gap in technology for girls and for people of color -- and for girls of color most of all. "Everyone needs women-of-color role models to think about," she says. "It's part of our cultural identity." The National Science Foundation has taken a liking to the Adventures of Josie True. Last month, the agency granted Ms. Flanagan's project just under $200,000. The money will be used to hire instructors to take over her classes at SUNY Buffalo so she can finish the three-year project on time. Ms. Flanagan hopes to receive a second N.S.F. grant that would pay for producing copies of the CD-ROM version of the game. Ruta Sevo is a director of the N.S.F.'s Program for Gender Equity in Science, Math, Engineering, and technology, which made the grant to Ms. Flanagan's project. She says that the game is particularly interesting to the N.S.F. because it touches so many bases: It is both multicultural and technical, and it teaches about women's history and science. "There's not a lot of software designed for girls," says Ms. Sevo. "This game has a lot of good strong features." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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