Integrating emerging technologies into formal education for assessment

Abstract

Our project used an interdisciplinary approach integrating computer science and biology to explore the use of emerging technology in the classroom and address the following research questions: How do college students represent a genome when provided interactive instruction via a virtual world environment (VWE)? How do students react to using a VWE as an instructional intervention for improving visual comprehension of a genome? We integrated interactive virtual world learning activities into an interdisciplinary classroom composed of students from multiple STEM majors. Each student engaged in activities related to visualizing genomes, kept records of their experiences in an electronic lab notebook, and posted about their experiences in a blog. Following this course, we interviewed students to understand how they learned to represent a genome and assess their interaction with the VWE.We found that the VWE offered new ways to explore questions of representation that were transparent in the types of representations students later generated. The collaborative and social environment also contributed to student learning. In conclusion, our investigation provides evidence that learning outcomes valued in science education can be taught through VWE.This research was supported by a visionary Grant from the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science And Education (2009) and by the HHMI SEA.