CI-TEAM Demonstration: Interactive and Collaborative Learning Environment using Virtual Reality Games Promoting Metacognition for Science and Engineering Design in Context

该提案是一项雄心勃勃的合作，合作对象包括罗文大学（一所公立大学）、田纳西州立大学（一所HBCU）、教育信息和资源中心（一所非营利性教育机构）以及四所当地职业/高中（伯灵顿县理工学院、新泽西州卡姆登县技术学校和布里奇顿高中，以及田纳西州的珍珠科恩商业磁铁学校）。重点是设计和实现一个虚拟现实（VR）游戏系统，该系统将网络基础设施（CI）学习经验注入到预工程/基于技术和工程的教室中，以促进科学和工程设计的元认知。以城市基础设施为主题，以工程师解决现实生活中的问题为场景，未来可持续城市设计的游戏吸引学生，特别是有前途的和刚开始的理工科学生，在ci增强和支持的科学和工程发现中。更重要的是，这些游戏结合了可视化、仿真、建模和协作工具，为学生创造了一个互动和协作的学习环境，通过虚拟分析、设计和制作，以数字方式探索科学和工程概念。游戏系统的CI功能使学习不局限于教室，而是在任何地点、任何时间进行，从而促进终身学习，这是学习者适应不断变化的社会本质的关键。此外，游戏中明确的元认知策略和情境导向的方法提高了学生的学习能力，使他们成为更好的设计师，从长远来看有利于整个社会。由于不需要额外的软件和硬件，游戏系统可以在任何网络服务器上安装和配置，然后在任何支持网络的个人计算机上运行，使我们的开发成本有效且易于运输。考虑到教师对提高学生成绩的重要性，该项目还将设计并举办为期4天的CI专业发展研讨会，向教师干部传播具体的项目信息。此外，EIRC将为研讨会提供在线内容管理系统（CMS），以提供内容，供教师反映，分享和访问信息，确保我们的创新快速，成功地过渡到广大学生的利益。智力优势：本提案的重点是整合21世纪技能和CI促进，并特别建立一个涉及高中和本科生的管道，这是将未来劳动力培养为终身学习者的重要一步，他们将拥有网络工具和有效策略，为快速变化和高度竞争的市场做好准备。系统和连贯的实验内容使学生能够得出他们对科学和工程基础的理解，将事实信息转化为可用的知识，并通过整合现实生活中的设计应用巩固他们对信息的感知——这是基于当前研究成果的最佳学习实践。这种“概念验证”方法的成功实施将促进我们对基于ci的VR游戏在促进学生学习和记忆方面所起作用的理解，在科学和工程设计的背景下，协作学习和交互式视觉探索所涉及的具体过程，以及元认知策略、问题解决策略、知识和动机之间复杂的相互作用。这项提案的资金将允许一个由合格教师组成的多学科团队实现这种教育创新。更广泛的影响：教育材料储存库的可交付成果丰富：(a)科学和工程概念的可视化表示，这是铅笔和纸格式无法实现的；(b)与虚拟环境以及其他内容学习者的充分互动；(c)前所未有地获得不受时间和空间限制的学习资源。这些特点混合了非正式和正式的学习，增强了，但更重要的是使终身科学和工程发现成为可能，这在过去是不可能的。两所大学（公立和HBCU），一个非营利性教育组织，和四所职业/高中之间的合作，自然导致了一个多样化的环境，扩大了参与ci支持的STEM活动的个人人数。我们的Facebook项目与Rowan、TSU和EIRC托管的项目网站一起创建了一个充满活力的在线社区，人们可以通过可执行程序、实验室和游戏设置描述以及开发的开放源代码的形式访问我们的游戏。这对于向其他希望采用我们的原型的学校推广尤其重要，并进一步扩展我们的学习网络和交流，使对这一教育研究和创新感兴趣的人能够从任何地方讨论新的发现/问题，以继续发展。Rowan、TSU和EIRC为K-12教育工作者和学生建立的成功推广计划将进一步促进积极的传播。

This proposal is an ambitious collaboration between Rowan University - a public institution, Tennessee State University (TSU) - a HBCU, the Educational Information and Resource Center (EIRC) - a non-profit educational organization, and four local vocational/high schools with a large population of underserved students (Burlington County Institute of Technology, Camden County Technological School and Bridgeton High School in New Jersey, and Pearl Cohn Business Magnet School in Tennessee). The focus is to design and implement a virtual reality (VR) game system that infuses cyberinfrastructure (CI) learning experiences into the pre-engineering/technology-based and engineering classrooms to promote metacognition for science and engineering design in context. Using city infrastructure as the theme and engineers solving real-life problems as the scenes, the games of future sustainable city design engage students, particularly prospective and beginning science and engineering students, in CI-enhanced and -enabled science and engineering discovery. More importantly, the games incorporate the access to visualization, simulation, modeling and collaboration tools, creating an interactive and collaborating learning environment for students to digitally explore science and engineering concepts via virtual analysis, design and production. The CI capabilities of the game system make it possible for learning to occur not limited to a classroom but in any place and at any time, fostering life-long learning that is a key for learners to adapt to the continuously changing nature of society. In addition, the explicit metacognitive strategies and context-oriented approaches addressed in the game improve students learning and prepare them to be a better designer, benefiting the society as a whole in the long run. With no additional software and hardware required, the game system can be installed and configured in any network server, and then run in any network-enabled personal computer, making our development cost effective and easily transportable. Considering the importance of teachers in raising student performance, the project will also design and run a 4-day CI professional development workshop to disseminate specific project information to the cadre of teachers. Additionally, an online Content Management System (CMS) will be provided by the EIRC for the workshop to deliver content and for teachers to reflect, share, and access information 24/7, ensuring a rapid, successful transition of our innovation to the benefit of broad students.Intellectual Merit: The focus of this proposal on the integration of 21st Century skills and CI facilitation and the particular setup of a pipeline involving high school and undergraduate students is a significant step in training future workforce to be life-long learners with a repertoire of cyber-tools and effective strategies that will prepare them for a rapidly changing and highly competitive marketplace. The systematic and coherent experimental content allows students to draw out their understanding of science and engineering fundamentals, transform factual information into usable knowledge, and consolidate their perceptions of information through integrated real-life design applications --- the best learning practice based on current research findings. Successful implementation of this "proof-of-concept" approach will advance our understanding of the roles that the CI-enabled VR games play in fostering student learning and retention, the specific processes involved with collaborative learning and interactive visual exploration for science and engineering design in context, and the complex interplay of metacognitive strategies, problem-solving tactics, knowledge and motivation. Funding of this proposal will allow a multidisciplinary team of qualified faculty to materialize such educational innovation.Broader Impact: The deliverable of a repository of educational materials is rich in (a) visual representation of science and engineering concepts that are not possible in pencil-and-paper formats; (b) ample interactions with the virtual environment as well as other content learners; and (c) unprecedented access to learning resources that are not limited in time and space. Those features blend informal and formal learning, enhancing, but more importantly enabling life-long science and engineering discovery that might not be possible in the past. The collaboration among two universities (public and HBCU), a non-profit educational organization, and four vocational/high schools with a large population of underrepresented groups naturally leads to a diverse setting that broadens the population of individuals participating in CI-enabled STEM activities. Our project Facebook, together with the project website hosted at Rowan, TSU, and EIRC creates a vibrant online community who can access our games in form of executable programs, the laboratory and game setup descriptions, and open source code of the development. This is particularly significant for outreach to other schools who wish to adopt our prototype, and further expands our learning network and communications, allowing people who are interested in this educational research and innovation to dialog new findings/problems from any venue for continued development. The well-established and successful outreach programs for K-12 educators and students at Rowan, TSU, and EIRC will further allow aggressive dissemination.