Science ID

This has been an interesting week and I’m seeing some good examples of simulations in SL and am convinced some educators are leveraging SL’s ability to make simulations and are going beyond creating 3D virtual classrooms. I dreamed about Svarga.

I’ve compiled my characteristics and supporting references for the classification I’ve been thinking about (over the past few years) and I’m placing some examples from the reading into these classes. This classification worked well for many web-based sims that I’ve encountered, but I believe that there some of the sims in SL require new categories. I’ll save that for next week.Barab, S.A.,

CLASSIFICATION 

SYMBOLIC
Students observe and test cause and effect relationships by manipulating symbols.
Note – symbols are “buttons” or sliders in this case. They’re not designed to represent or model reality. Often equivalent to pencil and paper activities. Avoid designing simulations that give answers transparently.

IN SL: I haven’t seen many examples of this in SL. I’ve only seen one or two examples of this in SL in the form of interactive boards. I think this is because the a developers would need to reverse-engineer the sim world. Some games and role-play devices and HUD’s incorporate symbolic elements.

VIRTUAL WORKBENCH
User works with tools that correspond to their real-life counterparts.

(These are widely recognized as virtual labs, but it is important to discriminate as many people call all manner of investigations virtual labs)

Create tools and work spaces that simulate real-life counterparts. Avoid creating ideal circumstances or improve on the intrinsic difficulties of a real lab. e.g., don’t make a frictionless table or a microscope that automatically centers the slide. Research shows learning outcomes and transference are equivalent to real labs. Promising for distance learning and where materials are inaccessible. (See Couture’s research on verisimilitude)

IN SL: Manipulating tools is difficult in SL. The avatar is basically a glorified reference point for a camera view. An av’s arms and legs are superficial. You can’t pick up a mass and set it on a scale very easily, for example, and most of the manipulation happens through a HUD or through a series of click menus. I’m looking for this type of sim. The readings referenced the

MODELING ENVIRONMENT
User builds environments and manipulates variables to perform tests.

IN SL: Model dynamic environments and give students control of many variables. Increases cognitive thinking, performance and problem solving skills. Research suggests that higher level thinking skills increase with the number of variables a student can control. (See McGee) These are common, but the dynamic elements are in the authors hands. An island like Svarga fits this category but the students are not able to manipulate the parameters.Examples:The readings referenced the http://www.exploratorium.edu/worlds/secondlife/ this appears to have potential, but I’ve been unable to find the island.

EXPERIENTIAL
This class may simply be a shift in perspective imposed on other types. User experiences simulation from the perspective of a character or population. These overlap into science learning games where the student has an objective and can also be simulations. McGee demonstrates an experiential simulation / modeling environment.

IN SL: Traditionally, this has been one of the more difficult sims to produce, but SL has many of these. Moreover, many of the modeling environment sims can be used in an experiential way.

Hay, K.E., Barnett, M., Keating, T. (2000). Virtual solar system project: building an understanding through model building. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Volume 37, 719-756.

Francis, A., Couture, M. (2003) Credibility of a simulation-based virtual laboratory: an exploratory study of learner judgments of verisimilitude. Journal of Interactive Research, Volume 14.4, p 439-464.

McGee, S. Corriss, D., Shia, R. (2001) Using simulations to improve cognitive reasoning. Paper presented to the American Educational Research Association, Seattle Washington. ERA 2001.

Steinberg, R.N. (2000) Computers in teaching science: to simulate or not to simulate? American Association of Physics Teachers, Volume 68, p 37-40

Triona, L.M., Klahr, D.K. (2003). Point and click or grab and heft: comparing the influence of physical and virtual instructional materials on elementary school student’ ability to design experiments. Cognition and Instruction, 21, 149-173.

Van Eck, R. (2001). Promoting transfer of mathematics skills through the use of a computer-based instructional simulation game and advisement. Proceedings of the Annual Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference.