Experiential Assessment with Virtual Reality: Lessons from Second Life, Reacting to the Past, and Epic Finales

1. Experiential Learning with Virtual Reality: Lessons from Second Life, Reacting to the Past, & Epic Finales @acrider Tony Crider Elon University elon.edu/acrider

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14. How should we teach using virtual reality? How can we grade with virtual reality?

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16. Learning Technologies RFP of educational disciplines critical to NASA’s future engineering, scientific, and technical missions. 3. Engage Americans in NASA’s mission: NASA will build strategic alliances, partnerships and linkages between STEM formal and informal education providers. Through hands-on, interactive, educational activities, NASA will engage students, educators, families, the general public, and all Agency stakeholders to increase Americans' science and technology literacy. Description of project A NASA-based MMO game built with the goal of engaging young people can enhance STEM education by using NASA-based content that draws and holds their attention with fun and challenging game play. The power of games as educational tools is rapidly gaining recognition. Innovative university faculty are already holding classes and taking fieldtrips to synthetic worlds like World of Warcraft® and Second Life®. A NASA game built on a game engine could: !Include powerful physics capabilities that support compelling learning opportunities and virtual career exploration. !Present real NASA engineering and science missions in a medium that is comfortable and familiar to the majority of students in the United States today. !Provide opportunities for students to investigate STEM career paths. !Contribute to the development of the critical skills and capabilities needed to build a pipeline of qualified scientific and technical employees required to fulfill the United States Space Exploration Plan. Rationale Massive multiplayer online (MMO) gaming and other persistent synthetic environments, initially popularized in the entertainment world, are now finding growing interest in education and training environments. There is increasing recognition that these synthetic environments can serve as powerful “hands-on” tools for teaching a range of complex subjects. NASA has long recognized the power of simulations as learning and training tools. MMO games can help players develop and exercise a skill set closely matching the thinking, planning, learning, and technical skills increasingly in demand by employers. These skills include strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem solving, plan formulation and execution, team-building and cooperation, and adaptation to rapid change. Today’s students have grown up with digital technology and video games and are poised to take advantage of the MMO communications and community building tools to collaborate on complex projects.. It will be vital for NASA to be able to assess the educational impact of game play as well as the level of adoption in educational settings. An integral part of evaluation of learning will be embedded assessments where completion of game tasks is used as a measure of learning and understanding. Success in the game will also build increased student NASA Request for Proposals Learning Technologies RFP 2

24. Sim of my sim

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33. Learning Technologies RFP of educational disciplines critical to NASA’s future engineering, scientific, and technical missions. 3. Engage Americans in NASA’s mission: NASA will build strategic alliances, partnerships and linkages between STEM formal and informal education providers. Through hands-on, interactive, educational activities, NASA will engage students, educators, families, the general public, and all Agency stakeholders to increase Americans' science and technology literacy. Description of project A NASA-based MMO game built with the goal of engaging young people can enhance STEM education by using NASA-based content that draws and holds their attention with fun and challenging game play. The power of games as educational tools is rapidly gaining recognition. Innovative university faculty are already holding classes and taking fieldtrips to synthetic worlds like World of Warcraft® and Second Life®. A NASA game built on a game engine could: !Include powerful physics capabilities that support compelling learning opportunities and virtual career exploration. !Present real NASA engineering and science missions in a medium that is comfortable and familiar to the majority of students in the United States today. !Provide opportunities for students to investigate STEM career paths. !Contribute to the development of the critical skills and capabilities needed to build a pipeline of qualified scientific and technical employees required to fulfill the United States Space Exploration Plan. Rationale Massive multiplayer online (MMO) gaming and other persistent synthetic environments, initially popularized in the entertainment world, are now finding growing interest in education and training environments. There is increasing recognition that these synthetic environments can serve as powerful “hands-on” tools for teaching a range of complex subjects. NASA has long recognized the power of simulations as learning and training tools. MMO games can help players develop and exercise a skill set closely matching the thinking, planning, learning, and technical skills increasingly in demand by employers. These skills include strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem solving, plan formulation and execution, team-building and cooperation, and adaptation to rapid change. Today’s students have grown up with digital technology and video games and are poised to take advantage of the MMO communications and community building tools to collaborate on complex projects.. It will be vital for NASA to be able to assess the educational impact of game play as well as the level of adoption in educational settings. An integral part of evaluation of learning will be embedded assessments where completion of game tasks is used as a measure of learning and understanding. Success in the game will also build increased student NASA Request for Proposals Learning Technologies RFP 2

34. 122,000,000 SOLD

35. Crider & Torrez-Riley 2017

37. Virtual reality will allow students to easily create in 3D in order to demonstrate their learning.

38. 2007

39. REACTING BOOKS

42. THE PLUTO DEBATE The Pluto Debate: The International Astronomical Union Defines a Planet YOU ARE NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON. As director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, you realize that Pluto is special to the public. However, as a scientist, you are convinced that it should no longer be considered a planet. In this game, students will play astronomers argu- ing over Pluto and the meaning of the word planet. They will begin by re-staging the 1999 debate at the American Museum of Natural History. They will then write and circulate short papers using data collected from 2000 to 2006 to convince others that Pluto is or is not a planet. Finally, they will debate and vote on the four IAU Resolutions (5A, 5B, 6A, and 6B; listed on the next page). 1999 DEBATE IN NEW YORK CITY On May 24, 1999, Neil deGrasse Tyson hosted an event entitled, Pluto’s Last Stand: A Panel of Experts Discuss and Debate the Classification of the Solar System’s Smallest Planet. Panelists included Michael A’Hearn, David Levy, Jane Luu, and Alan Stern. In class, the student(s) playing Tyson will welcome students playing the panelists (seated at the front of the room). Next, the panelists will each make a short (2-5 minutes) statement arguing their positions. Finally, students in the audience will be allowed to ask questions to the panelists. At the end of the debate, the student(s) playing Tyson will conduct a straw poll to determine if the panelists and the audi- ence feel that Pluto should or should not be classified as a planet. For this vote, all students (even those sharing a character) vote by a show of hands. Since its discovery in 1930, Pluto has always been consid- ered an odd planet. It is smaller than the Earth’s Moon. Its orbit is highly eccentric and is tilted outside of the orbital plane of the other eight planets. In the mid-1990’s, however, as- tronomers began to find other objects like Pluto, with similar sizes and orbits. Astronomers pondered whether or not these new objects should also be called planets. The fact that they were all slightly smaller than Pluto was used as justification for keeping them out of the planet category. VOTES FOR “PLANET” When constructing the planetarium’s new Scales of the Universe exhibit, you opted not to include Pluto as a planet. The New York Times port your visionary move. In an essay on the subject, you made Pluto’s demotion sound upbeat. “As professor Tyson, I must vote--with a heavy heart--for demotion. Pluto was always an enigma to teach. But I'd bet Pluto is happy now. It went from being system than that spanned by the eight planets.” VOTES FOR “NOT” ran a scathing article about your decision and several schoolchildren wrote to you in protest. However, scientists are now poised to sup- the runt of the planets to the undisputed King of the Kuiper belt. Pluto is now the ‘big man’ on a celestial campus that occupies a larger tract of the (outer) solar The debate intensified during the construction of a new Scales of the Universe exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson opted to exclude Pluto from this display depicting the relative sizes of the planets. To encourage debate on the topic, on May 24, 1999 Tyson hosted a panel debate between astronomy experts includ- ing Michael A’Hearn, David Levy, Jane Luu, and Alan Stern. 2000 to 2005 DISCOVERIES OF ADDITIONAL TRANS-NEPTUNIAN OBJECTS After re-staging the 1999 debate in class, students may distribute one-page papers with plots of objects in the solar system, including those discovered between 2000 and 2005. These papers should support their argument that Pluto is a planet or that Pluto is merely another trans-Neptunian object. Graphs can be constructed using the Planet Data Plotter on each character’s Online Resources web page. These plots and papers may later be cited during the 2006 debate that follows. THE PLUTOPHILE FACTION The plutophiles would like to see Pluto retain its status as a planet. 1999 DEBATE IN NEW YORK CITY When your classes re-stages the debate between four experts on Pluto and the trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) held at the American can use humor to poke fun at the “plutophiles” that believe Pluto should continue to be a planet. You should also point out that the debate, you will conduct a straw poll by asking everyone, “Who would be perfectly happy to kick Pluto out of the planet club?” 2000 TO 2005 DISCOVERIES OF ADDITIONAL TRANS-NEPTUNIAN OBJECTS If others distribute plots suggesting Pluto should be classified as a planet, you should carefully examine their plots and ask if Museum of National History on May 24, 1999, you will act as a moderator. While it is customary for moderators to be neutral, you the asteroids Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta were considered planets for 70 years until being demoted. At the end of Richard Binzel David Levy Alan Stern 2006 VOTE IN PRAGUE On August 24th, 2006, the IAU Planet Definition Committee presented its revised proposal for defining a planet. It was a compromise between their original draft and the definition put forward by Julio Fernández, leader of the “populist” faction. Student(s) playing Ronald Ekers will preside over the session. This will begin with a presentation by Richard Binzel describing the Planet Definition Committee’s final four resolutions. The audience is encouraged to ask questions during Binzel’s talk. Once the discussion is over, the student(s) playing Ekers will conduct a vote on each resolution. If Resolution 5A does not pass, there is no need to vote on Resolution 5B. Likewise, if Resolution 6A does not pass, then there is no reason to vote on Resolution 6B. For these votes, one and only one student playing each character will vote by raising voting sheets provided by Ekers. Pluto’s precarious title as a planet was further challenged when Mike Brown discovered “Xena” (officially called “2003 UB-313” and later renamed “Eris”), an object larger than Pluto. This forced the astronomy community to finally settle on the meaning of the previously undefined term planet. the exact same plot could be used to show that Pluto is just a large TNO. 2006 VOTE IN PRAGUE While you are not scheduled to speak in Prague, you will be in the audience and voting. You will attempt to convince the other astronomers there that this reclassification makes sense. You would like to go a step further and have the TNOs named “plutonian objects” to appropriately honor Pluto’s special place in history. Thus, you must argue strongly for Resolution 6B when the time comes. THE POPULIST FACTION The populists see Pluto as just one of a large population of icy bodies orbiting the Sun. On August 16, 2006, the Planet Definition Committee established by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), and composed largely of plutophiles favoring Pluto’s status as a planet, released its first draft definition for the term planet. Julio Fernández Jane Luu Neil deGrasse Tyson RESOLUTION 5A Accept the definition put forward by the Julio Fernández. A “planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. REQUIRED READING: The Hunt for Planet X, Chapters 2 & 26 ONLINE RESOURCES: http://www.elon.edu/acrider/pluto/tyson.html FOR A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self- gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilib- rium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet. AGAINST RESOLUTION 5B Make “planet” an umbrella term for “classical” and “dwarf” planets. Insert the word "classical" before the word "planet" in Resolution 5A, thus reading: A classical "planet" is a celestial body... FOR INDETERMINATE VOTERS The indeterminate astronomers are undecided. The same committee also proposed that the new sub-class of planets with sizes and orbits like Pluto’s be called plutons. Several astronomers protested these definitions for ignoring the dynamics of solar system bodies. As a compromise, the Planet Definition Committee revised their proposal into four distinct resolutions: 5A, 5B, 6A, and 6B. YOU ARE IN THE “POPULIST” FACTION. You and the other Populists see Pluto as part of the TNO population and not as a planet. The Plutophiles want Pluto to continue to be called a planet. The Indeterminate voters have not yet decided if Pluto should be called a planet. Your faction, the Populists, will vote for 5A and 6A and against 5B. AGAINST RESOLUTION 6A Declare Pluto is a prototype of a class of trans-Neptunian objects. The IAU further resolves: Pluto is a "dwarf planet" by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects. SECRET OBJECTIVE To win, you must also com- plete your secret objective: have the IAU vote in favor of Resolution 6B. Michael A’Hearn Mike Brown Ronald Ekers FOR AGAINST RESOLUTION 6B Agree that the trans-Neptunian objects will be called “plutonian objects.” The following sentence is added to Resolution 6A: This category is to be called "plutonian objects." FOR AGAINST C r e a t e d b y A n t h o n y C r i d e r • E l o n U n i v e r s i t y • D e p a r t m e n t o f P h y s i c s C r e a t e d b y A n t h o n y C r i d e r • E l o n U n i v e r s i t y • D e p a r t m e n t o f P h y s i c s C r e a t e d b y A n t h o n y C r i d e r • E l o n U n i v e r s i t y • D e p a r t m e n t o f P h y s i c s INSTRUCTIONS ROLE

43. Where does RTTP fit into Serious Games landscape? America’s Army Moot Court Second Life Military Training Debate Team Model UN RTTP Revolution GfC Chess D&D LARPing WoW Consoles

44. Journal of Educational Psychology 2009, Vol. 101, No. 3, 605–620 © 2009 American Psychological Association 0022-0663/09/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0015055 All the World’s a Stage? Consequences of a Role-Playing Pedagogy on Psychological Factors and Writing and Rhetorical Skill in College Undergraduates Steven J. Stroessner, Laurie Susser Beckerman, and Alexis Whittaker Barnard College, Columbia University Reacting to the Past is a pedagogy involving collaborative role playing in history-based games over a semester. This article presents results from a systematic assessment of this novel pedagogy conducted in 3 phases following student focus group interviews. Interviews indicated that the method was generally popular compared with traditional pedagogies, although several concerns about the course were raised. Quasi-experimental procedures were then used to examine consequences of the pedagogy on psychosocial variables and skill development at both the host (Phase 1) and affiliated (Phase 2) institutions. In both phases, students in Reacting to the Past showed elevated self-esteem and empathy, a more external locus of control, and greater endorsement of the belief that human characteristics are malleable compared with controls. Rhetorical skills were enhanced, but writing skills were unaffected. Phase 3 investigated individual differences in predicting course enjoyment and performance. Although individual differences correlated with enjoyment of the pedagogy, they were generally unrelated to grades received. These findings suggest that this role-playing pedagogy adds diversity to student experience while producing some beneficial psychological consequences and improvement in academic skills. Keywords: pedagogy, role playing, self-esteem, rhetorical skills, implicit theories Role playing has long been used as a novel, engaging, and active learning method in which students spontaneously act out charac- ters assigned to them within a social scenario (Bolton, 1979, 1998; Ladousse, 1987; Livingston, 1983; McCaslin, 2005; O’Toole & Dunn, 2002; Thiagarajan, 1996). Although originally developed as a technique for use in psychotherapy, role playing was adopted for use in education beginning in the 1940s and has flourished as a pedagogical and training technique since the 1970s (Blatner, 2000). Role playing and role-based games have been used to stimulate student engagement and to introduce variety in primary (e.g., Miller & Mason, 1983), secondary (e.g., Wiegmann, Danse- reau, & Patterson, 1992), undergraduate (e.g., Harris, Groscurth, & Trego, 2007), and even graduate (e.g., Alkin & Christie, 2002) classroom environments. Practitioners and theorists alike have suggested that role playing produces numerous benefits. It has been argued, for example, that role-based simulations promote classroom interaction and motiva- tion (e.g., van der Meulen Rodgers, 1996), produce a more internal locus of control and sense of mastery (McClure, Chinsky, & Larcen, 1978; Swink & Buchanan, 1984), allow discovery of the strengths, weaknesses, and consequences of certain behaviors or attitudes (Galbraith & Zelenak, 1991), and provide a means for exploring divergent points of view (Galbraith & Zelenak, 1991). It has also been hypothesized that role playing might increase em- pathy and altruism (Iannotti, 1978; Staub, 1971), perspective tak- ing (Chalmers & Townsend, 1990), and moral reasoning (Krogh, 1985) and enhance cognitive skills such as pattern recognition, decision making, creative thinking, and problem solving (Elling- ton, Gordon, & Fowlie, 1998; Randel, Morris, Wetzel, & White- hill, 1992). Despite the broad benefits that have been assumed to arise from role playing, the empirical foundation of these claims is surpris- ingly narrow. The vast majority of assessments to date have relied on descriptive or anecdotal accounts, and empirical evaluations have generally lacked credible measures and appropriate controls, underminingcausalclaimsabouttheeffectsofroleplaying(Gredler, 1996, 2004; Randel et al., 1992). In addition, it is unclear whether similar effects emerge from different specific instantiations of role playing. The existing literature usually does not distinguish differ- ent kinds of role play, failing to note potential differences in the effects of simulations varying in length, intensity, flexibility, and content area (Crookall & Oxford, 1990). Finally, much of the recent work has examined role playing on computers and online environments (e.g., Funk, Baldacci, Pasold, & Baumgardner, After playing Reacting to the Past, students are more likely to empathize with others. Steven J. Stroessner, Laurie Susser Beckerman, and Alexis Whittaker, Department of Psychology, Barnard College, Columbia University. This research was conducted with support from a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. We are grateful to Jessica Keating and Marissa Wong for their assistance in data collection and to Kathleen A. Volk for data collection and her additional work on scale development. We thank John Eby, Frank Kirkpatrick, and Patrick Coby for supervising data collection and Dana Milbank for providing information about the Reacting to the Past program. Our thanks go as well to Monica McDonald-Banks and Susan Fox for their assistance in orga- nizing and conducting focus group interviews. We are also indebted to Mark Carnes and Sue Sacks for providing comments on an earlier draft of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Steven J. Stroessner, Department of Psychology, Barnard College, Columbia Uni- versity, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027-6598. E-mail: ss233@columbia.edu 605

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