When Was the Last Time
You Saved a World?
Children’s Informal Science Learning in a
Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE)
Ron Blonder & Sherman Rosenfeld
The Weizmann Institute of Science
Rehovot, Israel
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MUVEs:
Multi-User Virtual Environments
An avatar, a personalized virtual character
which represents the player in the game
• Playing games in order to gain money,
• Purchasing clothes and accessories for
their avatar
• Chatting with other avatars in
the MUVE
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ekoloko MUVE: For children age 8-12
Focuses on ecology and the natural
environment
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ekoloko
The largest community for kids in Israel
• 250,000 registered users
• 45,000 new registered users per month
• Active users spend on average 4.5 hours per week
• Over 1,500,000 games played in ekoloko every week
• Over 15,000,000 different activities performed every week
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Developing quality content
• Science content experts:
• Identify interesting content for kids
• Provide valid scientific concepts
• Creative experts:
• Prepares general storyline
• Translates the scientific content into storyline narratives
• Content is implemented through:
• Community quests
• Adventures
• Games
• Trivia questions
• NPCs
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• Newspaper
Educational Design Goals
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• Knowledge: To increase the scientific
knowledge of the young players regarding
ecology and the natural environment,
• Affect: To develop positive attitudes of
these users towards ecology and the
natural environment, and
• Behavior: To promote user behaviors
which represent a positive approach to the
natural environment.
Challenge:
Extremely Large Number of Users
e.g., during one week in April 2009
Number of recorded playing events:
416,000
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Research Questions:
(1) How do the kids use the ekoloko
MUVE?
(2) To what extent does the ekoloko
MUVE influence the
knoeledge,
affective and
behavioral
Development of the players?
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Research tool: Data Mining
• User Baseline Data: Age, gender,
experience
• Analysis of Game Use: Frequency and
duration
• Knoeledge: Trivia scores
• Affective Goals: CHEAKS questionnaire
• Behavioral Goals: “ekos” donation and
activity in community events
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Results
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How do the kids use the
ekoloko MUVE?
Duration
(relative30units)
8
4
25
7
3
11
15
6
20
18
2
15
9
14
17
22
10
12
1004
10 16
1001
1
5
1002
1003
5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Frequency (%)
N=416,000 playing events
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How do the BOYS use the
ekoloko MUVE?
- Jeans Factory
Duration
- Farting Lambs
30
4
25
3
11
7
15
6
20
18
15
9
14
17
22
10
2
10
2
1001
1004
16
1
5
1002
1003
5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Frequency (%)
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How do the GIRLS use the
ekoloko MUVE?
Duration
30
8
4
25
7
3
11
6
20
2 9
18
15
10
14
10
22
15
12
1004
16
1
5
17
1001
1002
1003
5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Frequency (%)
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Gender Comparison
- Jeans Factory
Duration
- Farting Lambs
30
25
8
7
4
3
11
15
6
20
18
15
9
10
22
10
2
14
17
2
1001
1004
16
1
5
17
1002
1003
5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Frequency (%)
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Using ekoloko:
Focus and duration increase
with experience
35
Duration
30
3
25
Novices
3
3
20
Experts
15
10
5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Frequency (%)
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Patterns in Using ekoloko:
Frequency vs. Duration Data
• Most of the games – Same duration for both;
Higher frequency for boys.
• Jeans Factory (8) – Higher duration for girls,
same percentage for both
• Farting Lambs (17) – Higher duration for boys,
same percentage for both
• Focus and duration increase with experience
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Cognition:
Age differences
Environment Trivia:
Score for different ages
10
9
8
Score
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
N=4160,000
0
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
Age
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Cognition
Novices Vs. Experts
10
9
8
Score
7
6
5
Novice
4
Expert
3
2
1
N=4160,000
0
Recycling
Water
Desert plants Life in space
Animals
Trivia
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Cognition
Gender differences
10
9
8
Score
7
6
5
4
3
Boys
2
Girls
1
0
N=4160,000
Trivia
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Summary: Cognitive Effects
• Accumulative for age and expertise
• Equal for both genders
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Attitudes:
Design Criteria
• Develop a storyline theme of good vs. bad as the
basis for hundreds of narratives
• Place strong emphasis on activities that encourage
interaction
• Individual path: Kids take responsibility and make an
impact in the world
• Community path: Community events, eko-rangers
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Attitudes:
Highly environmental positive
Item
Positive
Negative
To save water, I would be willing to use less
water when I bathe.
84%
7%
I would not be willing to save energy by using
less air conditioning. (reverse)
64%
22%
I would not give 250 kokos of my own money to
help the wild animals. (reverse)
62%
23%
I would be willing to separate my family’s trash for
recycling.
79%
8%
I would be willing to stop buying some products to
save animal’s lives.
76%
10%
I would be willing to go from house to house
asking people to recycle.
53%
21%
N=1228
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Attitudes:
Gender differences
Item
Positive girls
Positive boys
To save water, I would be willing to use less
water when I bathe.
82%
85%
I would be willing to save energy by using less
air conditioning.
69%
59%
I would give 250 kokos of my own money to help
the wild animals.
80%
74%
I would be willing to separate my family’s trash for
recycling.
79%
83%
I would be willing to stop buying some products to
save animal’s lives.
77%
75%
I would be willing to go from house to house
asking people to recycle.
52%
55%
N=1228 kids
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Attitudes:
Time in the game
Beginners
Medium
Experience
To save water, I would be willing to use less
water when I bathe.
83%
86%
84%
I would not be willing to save energy by
using less air conditioning. (reverse)
64%
73%
68%
I would not give 250 kokos of my own money
to help the wild animals. (reverse)
58%
64%
80%
I would be willing to separate my family’s
trash for recycling.
82%
80%
79%
I would be willing to stop buying some
products to save animal’s lives.
75%
79%
79%
I would be willing to go from house to house
asking people to recycle.
54%
53%
57%
Item
N=1228
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Attitudes:
Time in the game
Beginners
Medium
Experience
To save water, I would be willing to use less
water when I bathe.
83%
86%
84%
I would not be willing to save energy by
using less air conditioning. (reverse)
64%
73%
68%
I would not give 250 kokos of my own
money to help the wild animals. (reverse)
58%
64%
80%
I would be willing to separate my family’s
trash for recycling.
82%
80%
79%
I would be willing to stop buying some
products to save animal’s lives.
75%
79%
79%
I would be willing to go from house to house
asking people to recycle.
54%
53%
57%
Item
N=1228
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Summary: Attitudes
• Players have a strong emotional
attachment with the environment
• Players develop stronger attitudes towards
the ekoloko environment, the longer they
play
• No consistent gender difference
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Behavior
Community Event:
In order to prepare a proper dump site, money is needed and
the players are asked to contribute their money they have
earned in ekoloko.
Question: What variables (e.g., age, gender, game level,
weeks in ekoloko, etc.) correlate with levels of donations?
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Behavior
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Behavior
Kids completed the quest before the dead-line:
They acted as a community
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Behavior
Two Answers:
(1) Weeks in ekoloko and game level correlate with
donation level. The more time players spent in this
ecological MUVE, the more likely they would behave in an
ecologically-responsible way
(p<.0001, Pearson Correlation Coefficient test, N=19,070)
• This result correlates with the attitude survey
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Behavior
(2) Gender effect: boy players contributed
twice as much money as girl players.
Hypothesis: External motivation played an
important role through a high-score table.
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Conclusions &
Implications
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Conclusions
1. We can use analytical tools (e.g., frequency vs. duration analysis) to make
sense of large amounts of data regarding
•
Game use
•
Cognitive, affective and behavioral effects
For different populations of users (e.g., gender, age, experience)
2. Another important outcome is interesting and non-obvious
“emerging questions” that can guide future research.
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Implications
1. Research
Methodology:
We propose that our research can be
used in data-mining educational MUVEs.
2. Informal
learning: This kind of research can increase our
understanding of kids’ behavior in informal learning environments called
educational MUVEs.
3. Educational
Design: It can also be useful for MUVE designers.
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The kids absorb values and knowledge
through fun activities in an environment
that they choose to be in
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