NSF Awards $2 Million Grant To Research Effect Of Minecraft On Interest In STEM Careers

The Bangor (ME) Daily News (9/29, McCrea) reports the National Science Foundation awarded a $2 million grant to researchers at the University of Maine who will study how playing Minecraft affects children’s interest in STEM careers. The researchers will create a program that can teach students how to program using Minecraft and then study its effectiveness and whether students are more interested in pursuing STEM careers. Minecraft is an “open-world game in which the player mines blocks of materials used to craft items and build structures.”