A multi-user virtual Biology environment for discovery-oriented science education

描述(由申请人提供)：该SBIR第一阶段项目旨在通过国家研究资源中心(NCRR)在NIH为科学教育开发面向发现的软件和工具类别下进行审议。我们提议开展一个为期6个月的项目，旨在研究将北达科他州州立大学(NDSU)虚拟细胞项目重新用于商业可行的基于互联网的游戏的可行性。虚拟细胞是对细胞过程的身临其境的3D模拟，包括细胞器功能、呼吸和光合成，在这里，学生们在一个动画细胞中飞行，并通过进行实验来学习生物学，就像生物学家一样。这种方法已经在大学课堂上得到了验证和验证。该项目旨在确定将适合于解决灵活研究问题的面向实验室的快速原型NDSU软件移植到适合传播和商业化的现代软件平台的可行性。软件开发将由WoWiwe指令公司进行。软件度量和评估研究的协调将由北达科他州州立大学首席研究员和NDSU研究生在他们的指导下进行。公共卫生相关性：该项目与公共卫生的相关性有三个方面。首先，这项研究旨在开发和传播科学教育的新模式，从而提供新的课堂学习方法，并引导公众更具科学素养。其次，通过测试结果，本项目为在同一媒体上开发其他主题的科学教育奠定了基础。第三，该项目以虚拟的形式促进科学学习，就像目前吸引我们年轻人的在线游戏：例如，魔兽世界和第二人生，以及其他许多游戏。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This SBIR Phase 1 project is intended for consideration under the NIH Development of Discovery-Oriented Software and Tools for Science Education category through the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) We propose to undertake a 6-month project aimed at studying the feasibility of re-purposing the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Virtual Cell project to a commercially viable internet-based game. The Virtual Cell is an immersive 3D simulation of cellular processes including organelle function, respiration, and photo-synthesis, where students "fly through" an animated cell and learn Biology by conducting experiments as a biologist would. This approach has been proven and validated in college classrooms. This project seeks to determine the feasibility of porting the laboratory oriented, rapid prototype NDSU software suitable for addressing flexible research questions, to a modern software platform suitable for dissemination and commercialization. The software development will be conducted by WoWiWe Instruction Co. Coordination of software metric and evaluation studies will be conducted by the North Dakota State University Principal Investigators, and NDSU graduate research students under their supervision. Public Health Relevance: The relevance of this project to public health is three-fold. First, the research is aimed at developing and distributing new models for science education, thus providing new methods of learning in the classroom and leading to a more scientifically literate public. Second, through test results, this project lays the groundwork for other topics to be developed for science education in the same media. Third, the project promotes learning of the sciences in a virtual modality, like the online games that currently absorb our youth: for example, World of Warcraft and Second Life, among many others.