Title
EcoXPT: Designing for Deeper Learning through Experimentation in an Immersive Virtual Ecosystem.
Abstract
Young people now must compete in a global, knowledge-based, innovation-centered economy; they must acquire not just academic knowledge, but also character attributes such as intrinsic motivation, persistence, and flexibility. To accomplish these ambitious goals, the National Research Council (2012) of the United States recommends the use of "deeper learning" classroom strategies. These include case-based learning, multiple representations of knowledge, collaborative learning, apprenticeships, life-wide learning, learning for transfer, interdisciplinary studies, personalized learning, connected learning, and diagnostic assessments. Immersive media (virtual reality, multi-user virtual environments, mixed and augmented realities) have affordances that enhance this type of learning. EcoXPT is an inquiry-based middle school curriculum on ecosystem science that invites students into immersive experimentation with scaffolding tools that support deeper learning. This includes a case-based approach situated in an unfolding eutrophication scenario in which students learn new information from their observations over space and time, speaking with virtual characters in the world, and gathering information in the field guide and other sources. Diagnostic assessments of students' progress are based on multiple sources, including process data from various types of logfiles. Multiple varied forms of representation convey perceptual, graphical, and experimental data, enabling students to investigate relationships between variables. Students are apprenticed in the ways of knowing of ecosystems scientists, which involves interdisciplinary knowledge. Students collaborate in teams of two, subdividing the tasks of gathering evidence.
Year
Venue
Keywords
2017
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
Immersive learning,Virtual worlds,Deeper learning,Ecosystems science
Field
DocType
Volume
Educational technology,Metaverse,Transformative learning,Computer science,Human–computer interaction,Immersion (virtual reality),Teaching method,Cooperative learning,Multimedia,Science education,Ecosystem
Journal
20
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
SP4
1176-3647
2
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.38
3
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Chris Dede115920.06
Tina Grotzer210311.48
Amy Kamarainen31029.75
Shari Metcalf4989.29