Dr. Brian M. Slator, Computer Science Department North Dakota State University Virtual Worlds for Education

NDSU WWWIC World Wide Web Instructional Committee WWWIC’s virtual worlds research supported by NSF grants DUE , EAR , DUE , ITR and EPSCoR WWWIC faculty supported by large teams of undergraduate and graduate students. Paul JuellDonald Schwert Phillip McCleanBrian Slator Bernhardt Saini-EidukatAlan White Jeff Clark

; 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

Balancing Pedagogy with Play Games have the capacity to engage! Powerful mechanisms for instruction Illustrate real-world content and structure Promote strategic maturity (“learning not the law, but learning to think like a lawyer”)

Technical Approach Networked, internet based, client-server simulation UNIX-based MOO (Multi-User Dungeon, Object Oriented) Java-based clients (text version - telnet based; graphical versions)

The Projects l The Virtual Cell l Dollar Bay l Like-a-Fish hook Village l Digital Archive for Archaeology l Others l The Geology Explorer

The Geology Explorer

Similar to Earth, but opposite the Sun You are a Geologist and you “land” on Oit to undertake exploration Authentic Geoscience goals - e.g., to locate, identify, and report valuable minerals Planet Oit

~50 places: desert, cutbank, cave, etc. ~100 different rocks and minerals ~15 field instruments: rock pick, acid bottle, magnet, etc. ~Software Tutors: agents for equipment, exploration, and deduction Planet Oit The simulation

Maps of Planet Oit

Virtual Field Instruments

Recent Advances ·New Modules: ·Hydrology ·Interpretation ·Expanded Graphical Client ·Redesign planet: sophisticated geologic map + tectonic setting.

The Virtual Cell

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

You are a Biologist who can “fly around” inside the cell.

You are assigned goals which range from “identify the nucleus” early to “synthesize ATP” later.

You set up experiments (for example, a chlorophyll assay)

Experimentation – bring samples back to the lab

; 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 become discouraged or “lost” in the world and not know why In Virtual Environments: Tutors are Needed

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

; Student interact with the intelligent tutoring agent ; Students can ignore advice and carry on at their own risk In Virtual Environments: Tutors are Needed

Intelligent Software Tutoring Agents. (example: Diagnostic Tutors) 1. Equipment tutor 2. Exploration tutor 3. Science tutor Detects when a student makes a wrong guess and why (i.e. what evidence they are lacking); or when a student makes a correct guess with insufficient evidence (i.e. a lucky guess) Tutoring is Done by:

Rejects the notion of standardized multiple choice tests Pre-game narrative-based survey short problem-solving stories students record their impressions and questions Similar post-game survey with different but analogous scenarios Surveys analyzed for improvement in problem-solving Assessment Qualitative

The Geology Explorer: Assessment Protocol 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 Example: Fall, 1998

Mean Post-Intervention Scenario Scores for 1998 Geology Explorer - NDSU Physical Geology Students GraderGraderGrader GroupNo.OneTwoThree Alternate a27.0a42.6a Control a25.5a44.5a Planet Oit b35.4b53.4b Within any column, any two means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at P=0.05 using Duncan’s multiple range mean separation test.

Mean Post-Intervention Scenario Scores Module: GroupNo.Organelle IDCellular Resp. Alternate b13.7b Control a10.6a Vcell c17.3c Within any column, any two means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at P=0.05 using the LSD mean separation test.

Teaching Principles Game-like Game-like Spatially oriented Spatially oriented Goal-orientated Goal-orientated Immersive Immersive Role-based Role-based Exploratory Exploratory Interactive Interactive Multi-user Multi-user Teach through learn-by-doing techniques Teach through learn-by-doing techniques

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

To visit WWWIC Projects: Choose the project you want to view from the list at the left

" DANA is intended to be a cross-platform information retrieval system for web-based multimedia utilized in anthropological research. " Ultimately, the goal of the DANA project is to create a network of distributed, federated databases containing research quality digitized 3D models, photographs, and video of archaeological and cultural data. " To the user seeking to access a broad variety of data, the client application will seem as though it is a user-friendly interface to a single online database. In actually, the user will be conducting searchers across a wide variety of databases located across the globe. Digital Archive Network for Anthropology (DANA) DANA is a recent advance!

DANA Fact Sheet " Though further research is required to implement the distributed, federated network aspects of DANA, the database browsing application currently supports servlet search capabilities for Postgress, mySQL, and Oracle databases. " DANA currently only displays VRML 97 and HotMedia 3D models, though the addition of 3D file formats supported by the NCSA Java3D Portfolio is expected soon. Technology Used: " Java3D " Java JDK 1.3 " Java Web Start " Java Servlets " JDBC " NCSA Java3D Portfolio " IBM’s HotMedia Classes

Starting The DANA Applet After installing Java Web Start and the Java3D API, return to the application launch page at: Once there, click the “Launch DANA Applet” button. Next a “login” box will appear, where the user enters in his/her username & password and then clicks the “Login” button to start the DANA applet.

Future Educational Uses For DANA Immersive Virtual Lab Digitally-Enhanced Museum Exhibits " Shared/collaborative research environment " Global student education lab " Multi-use Kiosk and Web-based presentations