First Learning Game of Its Kind Helps Developmental Psychology Students Learn Virtually During COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

NEW YORK (September 9th, 2020) – McGraw Hill today announced the launch of a new digital learning game embedded in developmental psychology course offerings of Lifespan/Human Development, Child Development, and Adolescence on the McGraw Hill Connect digital learning platform.

Quest: Journey Through the Lifespan is an immersive and engaging learning experience for developmental psychology students designed to help them apply concepts and theories from their curriculum to real-life scenarios. Built to ensure access for all, these learning games support WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility guidelines, including keyboard controls and assistive technologies, reinforcing McGraw Hill’s commitment to helping all learners unlock their full potential.

Over the past three years, a team of subject-matter experts and more than 500 instructors and 1,000 students reviewed and worked with McGraw Hill product managers to develop this unique game. Observing people of wide-ranging ages is an important part of developmental psychology courses, but can be difficult for many schools and institutions to implement with their students. As college campuses moved their courses online during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to navigate this unprecedented time, Quest: Journey Through the Lifespan provides a new opportunity for students to learn virtually.

For more information about Quest: Journey Through the Lifespan, visit: https://www.mheducation.com/highered/connect/quest.html

Quest: Journey Through the Lifespan is comprised of 14 unique “quests,” each with its own diverse subject character, ranging in age from nine months old to 80 years old, and its own engaging environment. Once a Quest journey is assigned, students navigate through the environment as the character, applying key concepts and theories from their course curriculum. Instructors can assign higher-level assessment questions following game play for further confirmation of students’ understanding.

“With more students working remotely during the pandemic and instructors looking for solutions to bring learning to life through technology, we are excited to offer this powerful and accessible tool to help students increase overall engagement, improve outcomes, and apply content in a new, innovative format,” said Katie Stevens, VP of Humanities, Social Sciences and Languages Portfolio at McGraw Hill. “This is yet another example of the ways we’re working hard to improve our digital learning materials to be more useful and affordable while improving course and student outcomes.”

“Quest was the right project at the right time,” said Dr. Cheri Kittrell, Psychology Department Coordinator at State College of Florida and lead subject matter expert for Quest: Journey Through the Lifespan. “There was no way that we could have known when we started it several years ago just how much our faculty and students would need an immersive experience for their courses like this. Faculty moving their classes online for the first time in the wake of coronavirus are thrilled with the engagement that a learning game provides and the current call for culture, diversity, and inclusion makes the value of exploring these scenarios with students so relevant. I am so proud to have been involved in the development of this amazing product that McGraw Hill has created.”

In recent months, McGraw Hill has introduced several new innovations and partnerships designed to help our customers navigate these challenging times and provide engaging, effective educational experiences that improve outcomes for all learners. For example, McGraw Hill released Virtual Labs this spring to help students and instructors continue the critical in-person lab experience regardless of class modality. Remote proctoring through Proctorio is now available in all McGraw Hill Connect courses and helps instructors deal with assessment security in an online or hybrid environment. And this fall term, all students will have access to a free hour of tutoring with a verified expert online tutor through our partnership with TutorMe.