Virtual Environments and
Educational Role-Playing
Games for Teaching Science
Alan White
Donald Schwert
North Dakota State University
NDSU WWWIC
World Wide Web Instructional Committee
Paul Juell
Donald Schwert
Phillip McClean
Brian Slator
Bernhardt Saini-Eidukat
Alan White
WWWIC faculty supported by large teams
of undergraduate and graduate students.
WWWIC’s Virtual Worlds research supported by NSF grants
DUE 97-52548 and EAR-9809761.
Teaching with Games

Educational software should be:
engaging
entertaining
attractive
flexible

Games are extremely powerful if they are:
engaging
entertaining
attractive
flexible

authentic
supportive
constructive
interactive
But, games often fail to teach . . . . .
(anything useful)
Capitalizing on Human Nature
People will play if you let them
but
Students will tire of rigid tutorials.
People will play roles if you ask them
but
Students will quit if the experience
is not sufficiently authentic.
Capitalizing on Human Nature
People like to play (and play roles)
if
Simulations are sufficiently authentic
but not:
Tediously detailed
or
Too predictable
Capitalizing on Human Nature
Simulated environments should:
Promote the right mind-set by making
it easy to become involved
Educational Role-playing Games
“Learning-by-doing” Experiences

MultiUser

Exploration

Spatially-oriented virtual worlds

Practical planning and decision making
Educational Role-playing Games
“Learning-by-doing” Experiences

Problem solving

Scientific method

Real-world content

Mature thinking
Advantages of Virtual Worlds





Collapse virtual time and distance
Allow physical or practical
impossibilities
Participate from anywhere
Interact with other users, virtual
artifacts, and software agents
Multi-user collaborations and
competitive play
WWWIC Projects
Content from Anthropology to Zoology

Geology Explorer

Virtual Cell

Visual Program

ProgrammingLand

Dollar Bay Retailing Game
WWWIC Projects
Content from Anthropology to Zoology
Blackwood Village
 Virtual Polynesia
 Crystal Growth
 Tree Identification

Development Tools
 Tutoring Agents


Assessment Tools
Technical Approaches

Networked, internet-based,
client-server

MultiPlayer

Simulation-based

Implemented in Java applets
Technical Approaches

MUD = Multi User Domain

MOO = Object Oriented MUD
Multi-user database for implementing
objects and methods to represent
rooms, containers and agents
Technical Approaches
 MUDs
and MOOs are typically
task-oriented with keyboard
interactions
 Ours
are also graphicallyoriented, point & click interfaces
The Geology Explorer: Planet Oit
Real World of Planet Earth
The Virtual World of Planet Oit

Planet Oit: Recently discovered.

Similar to Earth.

Same orbit.

Directly opposite the Sun.
The Geology Explorer: Planet Oit
Game Scenario
 You
are a geologist.
 Explore
this new planet.
 Authentic
geologic goals.
Locate and report valuable minerals.
 Must
learn geoscience content.
-
The Geology Explorer
• 50 Places
• 90 Different Rocks
and Minerals
• 15 Field Instruments
• 25 Laboratory
Instruments
• Software Tutors
Maps of Planet Oit
The Geology Explorer
Virtual Field Instruments
The Geology Explorer
The Geology Explorer
The Geology Explorer
360º PANORAMAS
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 10:18:38
-0500
From: tibbets <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Please send quick ans.
Hello,
You are very busy, no doubt, but would you
please take a second to send an explanation
(via email) to my son’s first grade teacher
that the story of Planet Oit was a fictional
story for a geology teaching project? She
thinks that NASA has indeed found this
planet that is like Earth, and is telling
her students such. Just send it via my
email and I’ll print it.
Thank you,
M. Tibbets
Plainview, TX
FUTURE PLANS
• Add process measurement
and data interpretation.
• Allow subsurface exploration.
• “Redesign” planet: sophisticated
geologic map + tectonic setting.
The Virtual Cell
The Cell
Rendered in VRML
(Virtual Reality Modeling Language)
The Laboratory
The Laboratory
The Laboratory
The Virtual Cell User Interface
The Cell
The Cell
Users can “fly around” inside the cell.
The Cell
Users are assigned goals
For example: Identify 6 different organelles
The Cell
Users set up experiments to
accomplish their goals
Experimentation
Take samples from the cell back to the laboratory
Use instruments, inhibitors, and mutations
Tutors are Needed
In Virtual Environments:

Students can join from any remote
location

They can log in at any time of day or
night

Human tutors cannot be available at all
times to help

Students can foul things up and not
know why
Tutors are Needed
In Virtual Environments:

Information is readily available

The simulation can track actions

The simulation can generate warnings
and explanations

Tutor “visits” are triggered by user
action
Tutors are Needed
In Virtual Environments:

Student interact with the intelligent
tutoring agent

Students can ignore advise and carry
on at their own risk
Intelligent Tutoring

Student actions are tracked

Students make errors and are tutored

Timely and appropriate remediation
Software Tutoring Agents

Deductive Tutoring: Provides
assistance with deductive reasoning
needed to solve a scientific problem

Case-based Tutoring: Presents
examples of relevant experience
(case studies)

Rule-based Tutoring: Provides
assistance when student actions
break encoded rules for the domain
Assessment

Not “multiple choice” recall

Content specific:
Geology
Cell Biology

Problem solving, hypothesis
formation, deductive reasoning
Assessment by Scenarios
Assess computer literacy
 PreTest: Present scenario, students
propose course of action or
solution
 Engage in learning experience
Control vs Virtual
 PostTest: Present similar scenario,
student response
 Analysis of assessment data

The Geology Explorer:
Assessment Protocol, Fall, 1998
Pre-course Assessment:
400+ students
Computer Literacy Assessment:
(244 volunteers)
Divide by Computer Literacy
and Geology Lab Experience
Non-Participant Control
Group:
(150 students, approx.)
Geology Explorer
Treatment Group:
(122 students)
Completed
(78 students)
Post-course Assessment:
368 students
Non-completed
(44 students)
Geomagnetic
(Alternative) Group:
(122 students)
Completed
(95 students)
Non-completed
(27 students)
The Virtual Cell: Assessment
To visit the Virtual Cell:
www.ndsu.nodak.edu/wwwic
Select:
Projects
Virtual Cell
VRML Images
8. Latest Version
To view VRML files, you will need a Web
Browser Plug-in: CosmoPlayer
To “Visit” Planet Oit:
oit.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu