TT2209 Athemos

ATHEMOS is a videogame and real-world intervention package designed to help middle school students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) improve their organization, scheduling, and note taking skills. ADHD affects 5% to 9% of school-aged children and is associated with poor academic performance, disruptive behaviors, and school dropout. Unfortunately, adolescents with ADHD rarely receive evidence-based treatment of any kind, and often discontinue treatments (e.g., medication) when offered. ATHEMOS is innovative in that it is the first serious game in English that trains practical skills—organization, scheduling, and note-taking skills—often lagging among students with ADHD. ATHEMOS is also the first ADHD game paired with a school-based intervention to aid transfer. Specifically, a teacher mentor helps the player apply skills rehearsed in ATHEMOS to the classroom, using strategies outlined in a treatment manual. In the game, Earth is under threat from extraterrestrials in the asteroid belt beyond Mars. The player must pilot a new spacecraft called the “ATHEMOS” to collect information (i.e., “intel”) about these mysterious beings. Intel are dropped when the player disables the aliens’ robot drone spacecraft during space battles. The player then returns to Earth and works with the “Silent Canopy” taskforce to organize and interpret the intel. This cycle repeats, with the player engaging the aliens throughout the solar system and returning to Earth, until all intel (noun and adjective phrases) are successfully organized and the player learns why the aliens are attacking. To win ATHEMOS, players must successfully sort intel into four thematic categories, schedule meetings thoughtfully, and correctly arrange main ideas and supporting details. After players have success in the game, a real-world teacher mentor helps the student transfer skills taught in the game to the classroom using strategies outlined in the treatment manual. The targeted academic enabler skills and the strategies for teaching them within ATHEMOS are derived from the Challenging Horizons Program (CHP), an evidence-based psychosocial treatment program for adolescents with ADHD. The CHP has been tested in schools by multiple research teams, resulting in over 10 published peer reviewed studies and a scholarly book ("A Practical Guide to Implementing School-Based Interventions for Adolescents with ADHD"). ATHEMOS is a novel, game-assisted version of the CHP, conceived by Brandon K. Schultz, Ed.D., in partnership with the CHP program developer, Steven W. Evans, Ph.D., and created by student game designers at the Game Research and Immersive Design Lab at Ohio University. Funding for the game was awarded to East Carolina University and Ohio University from the US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (R324A180219). The ideas and opinions expressed in the game and its supporting materials are those of the principal investigators and do not represent the views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.