ISTE Annual Conference and Exposition

This presentation examined the power of immersive and game-based environments for scientific inquiry, as well as how to support student choice and open access using a quest-based learning management system. Implications for quest-based science curriculum design, pedagogy, learning outcomes, and assessment were addressed.

Following principles of effective game and quest design, we are using a design-research approach to develop and study a socially networked, quest-based learning management system (3D GameLab) to support access and choice in K-12 scientific inquiry across a variety of immersive and game-based learning environments. Quests are designed by science educators in alignment to national science standards with curriculum development emphasizing choice, inquiry, customized learning and demonstration of performance competencies. Teacher/designers are encouraged to leverage existing virtual world, simulation, and game content when considering learning activities. As learners complete various quest pathways, their achievements are tracked and visible in real time in the form of experience points (xp), rankings, and achievements/awards.

Early research with pre-service teachers shows high levels of engagement with quest content, very high satisfaction ratings with options for competency demonstration, and identification of initial variables impacting learner preferences in quest design (such as time, type of inquiry or required outcome, narrative overlay, competitive/cooperative/solo). Pedagogical impact was noted in learner time on task, learners working independently or in small groups, and the instructor using live class time to host "raids" for larger group cooperative activities. Upcoming implementation of the beta version with a group of 500 in-service teachers will further explore:

• quest design variables impacting the choice and successful completion of quests
• use of integrated data and text mining to identify initial predictors of successful learning pathways and outcomes
• use of social gaming structures (guilds, guild officers, raids, etc.), as pedagogical strategies
• issues/strategies with science educator professional development and implementation into the blended or online K-12 classroom

The EcoMUVE curriculum (http://www.ecomuve.org) includes two virtual ecosystems: pond and forest. In the pond ecosystem, students use their avatars to explore the environment, see realistic organisms in their natural habitats, talk to the local "residents," and collect water, weather, and population data. They visit the pond over a number of virtual days, eventually making the surprising discovery that many fish have died. Students work in teams to collect and analyze data, solving the mystery via learning about complex causality. EcoMUVE provides new ways of accessing the causal structures inherent in ecosystem relationships via immersive simulation. Moving through the immersive virtual world can help students understand spatially distributed ecological phenomena. The EcoMUVE world models the pond and its surroundings, including a nearby golf course and a housing development. Students walk their avatars uphill to the housing development, and down along a drainage ditch to see how water flows into the pond. Through exploration, students discover that fertilizer runoff from the development is the distant cause of an algae bloom at the local pond. EcoMUVE's submarine tool allows them to explore the microscopic organisms, allowing the realization that organisms that they cannot see, such as algae and bacteria, play critical roles in the pond ecosystem. Linked visual representations reinforce student learning of abstract ecosystem concepts. For example, students see the surface of the pond become greener during the algae bloom. They measure pond turbidity and can link the measurements to their experiences walking under the water of the pond seeing how murky it looks on different days. Our results from pilot implementations show substantial levels of student engagement and learning of ecosystems science, scientific inquiry, and complex causality.

Using the same type of immersive interface, we are also developing and studying the feasibility of summative immersive virtual performance assessments to assess scientific inquiry of middle school students (http://vpa.gse.harvard.edu). Our first assessment is based on a real bay in Alaska. In this assessment, students individually investigate the marine ecosystem and discover why the kelp forest is depleting. They take on the identity of a scientist and use an avatar to explore the virtual world. The student's avatar can interview and interact with non-player characters (computer agents); can collect data using virtual tools of scientists; and can observe tacit clues. The students must evaluate the credibility of data provided by various sources. We have developed performance palettes as interactive methods for assessing student performance and are capturing student's interactions and choices as they solve the problem. These data streams are recorded and allow for real-time analysis of student paths in the situation. To ensure the integrity and validity of the data we are capturing, we have developed a back-end architecture and administration system so these assessments can be readily used in schools. We have developed an online report generation tool that facilitates real-time feedback or outcome reporting of collected data for further analysis and modeling. Early results from our pilot implementations are establishing the practicality and affordability of this alternative to paper-and-pencil item-based testing.

As time permits, the session will also sketch the beginning of our work in designing and studying immersive augmented realities for ecosystems using mobile broadband devices and probeware.

Providing on-demand electronic professional development tools to effectively diagnose and select resources and opportunities to ameliorate gaps in content knowledge for K-12 teachers is one viable solution commensurate with the magnitude of scale needed to reach the millions of teachers of science at these grade levels. Research reports that many K-8 teachers have little formal training in the science content they teach, and national surveys confirm K-8 teachers’ lack of confidence in teaching science, which unfortunately, results in teacher avoidance and low conceptual understanding for both teachers and the students they teach. Similarly, many teachers at the middle and high school levels find themselves teaching “in-field,” but out of field in content areas they have little formal science education training in. The same holds true for all special education teachers across all grade levels.

Providing on-demand electronic professional development tools to effectively diagnose and select resources and opportunities to ameliorate gaps in content knowledge for K-12 teachers is one viable solution commensurate with the magnitude of scale needed to reach the millions of teachers of science at these grade levels. Research reports that many K-8 teachers have little formal training in the science content they teach, and national surveys confirm K-8 teachers’ lack of confidence in teaching science, which unfortunately, results in teacher avoidance and low conceptual understanding for both teachers and the students they teach. Similarly, many teachers at the middle and high school levels find themselves teaching “in-field,” but out of field in content areas they have little formal science education training in. The same holds true for all special education teachers across all grade levels.

With content collaborators such as NASA, NOAA, NIH and FDA, and underwriters such as the National Science Foundation, the GE Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the ExxonMobil Foundation, The NSTA Learning Center is providing one flexible and extensible model that leverages face-to-face state and local systemic PD efforts. The poster will discuss advantages and lessons learned via this e-PD model, examining learner usage and preference data, and how this model is best achieved when integrated as part of a coherent long-term blended PD solution at the state and district level.