Alan R. White Phillip E. McClean Brian M. Slator North Dakota State University An Interactive, Virtual Environment for Cell Biology

NDSU WWWIC World Wide Web Instructional Committee Paul Juell Donald Schwert Phillip McClean Brian Slator Bernhardt Saini-Eidukat Alan White WWWIC’s Virtual Worlds research supported by NSF grants DUE , EAR , and EPSCoR WWWIC faculty supported by large teams of undergraduate and graduate students.

Educational Role-playing Games “Learning-by-doing” Experiences l MultiUser l Exploration l Spatially-oriented virtual worlds l Practical planning and decision making

Educational Role-playing Games “Learning-by-doing” Experiences l Problem solving l Scientific method l Real-world content l Mature thinking

Advantages of Virtual Worlds l Collapse virtual time and distance l Allow physical or practical impossibilities l Participate from anywhere l Interact with other users, virtual artifacts, and software agents l Multi-user collaborations and competitive play

Technical Approaches l Networked, internet-based, client-server l MultiPlayer l Simulation-based l Implemented in Java applets

Technical Approaches l MUD = Multi User Domain l MOO = Object Oriented MUD M ulti-user database for implementing objects and methods to represent rooms, containers and agents

Technical Approaches l MUDs and MOOs are typically task-oriented with keyboard interactions l Ours are also graphically- oriented, point & click interfaces

The Virtual Cell Rendered in VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language)

Users can “fly around” inside the cell.

Users are assigned specific goals For example: Identify 5 different organelles

A Virtual Laboratory is attached

The Laboratory is populated with instruments, tools and chemicals needed to perform experiments.

Centrifuges, PCR machines, DNA Sequencers, pH meters, etc.

The Cell User movements are tracked by MOO software.

The Virtual Cell User Interface

Users set up experiments in the Cell to accomplish their assigned goals.

Or... take samples from the Cell back to the Laboratory to use instruments, inhibitors, and mutations.

Outcomes: Cell Biology ContentLearning-by-Doing Problem SolvingHypothesis Formation Deductive ReasoningMature Thinking

Tutors are Needed In Virtual Environments: l Students can join from any remote location l They can log in at any time of day or night l Human tutors cannot be available at all times to help l Students can foul things up and not know why

l Information is readily available l The simulation can track actions l The simulation can generate warnings and explanations l Tutor “visits” are triggered by user action Tutors are Needed In Virtual Environments:

l Student interact with the intelligent tutoring agent l Students can ignore advise and carry on at their own risk

Assessment l Not “multiple choice” recall l Content specific: Cell Biology l Problem solving, Hypothesis formation, Deductive reasoning

Assessment by Scenarios l Assess computer literacy l PreTest: Present scenario, students propose course of action or solution l Engage in learning experience Control vs Virtual l PostTest: Present similar scenario, student response l 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 Geomagnetic (Alternative) Group: (122 students) Geology Explorer Geology Explorer Treatment Group: (122 students) Non-Participant Control Non-Participant ControlGroup: (150 students, approx.) Completed Completed (78 students) Non- completed Non- completed (44 students) Completed Completed (95 students) Non- completed Non- completed (27 students) Post-course Assessment: 368 students

The Virtual Cell: Assessment

To visit the Virtual Cell: Select: > Projects > Projects > Virtual Cell > Virtual Cell > Play the Game > Play the Game To view VRML files, you will need a Web Browser Plug-in: CosmoPlayer