The Reconstructors: Nothing to Rave About

Rice University Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning, USA. 

Players help solve drug-related cases by gathering evidence, interpreting data, conducting experiments and consulting with experts. Players learn about how MDMA/ecstasy and other party drugs affect the body so that they can make informed choices when encountering MDMA/ecstasy and other party drugs. Players also learn to identify which parts and functions of the brain are affected by stimulants, distinguish between the physiological effects of stimulants and hallucinogens and interpret experimental data and draw conclusions from virtual experiments on the effects of certain drugs.

3 × 30–45 minute episodes

Extensive supplementary classroom activities available here. 

• Increased general knowledge of drug(s)
• Increased knowledge of drug-related effects and harms.

Benefits associated with playing The Reconstructors have been evaluated in one published study (see below). The benefits have not yet been evaluated in an Australian sample. 

Miller, L., Moreno, J., Willcockson, I., Smith, D., & Mayes, J. (2006). An Online, Interactive Approach to Teaching Neuroscience to Adolescents. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 5, 137-143.