STTR Phase I: Independent Science Learning through Serious Games with Expert Avatars and Complementary Stories

这个STTR第一阶段项目将开发和测试一个学习平台，以促进独立，个人和愉快的科学教育。该平台结合了一本引人入胜的书，书中的人物使用虚构的虚拟环境来解决一个谜，并提供了一个基于计算机的虚拟环境来支持游戏，探索和与专家化身（XA）的访谈，如阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦和亨里埃塔莱维特，出现在书中。其目标是提高5-8年级儿童对科学的兴趣，这些年级缺乏科学教师，教育工具必须与吸引年轻人的高水平技术竞争，例如使用说话的化身和虚拟个人助理回答问题的游戏。提高学生对科学职业的兴趣可以帮助填补高科技行业预计的工人短缺，并提供急需的科学教师。填补这些工作岗位有望增加美国的GDP（和税收）和高科技出口。该项目将开发一个预计系列的初始产品，通过有趣的故事和充满XA的令人兴奋的虚拟环境，促进科学，数学，工程，历史，艺术和其他学科的独立学习。该项目将在基于计算机的虚拟环境和游戏在教育中的成功应用的基础上，增加两个重要功能。首先，数字内容将由书补充，书中的人物使用虚构的虚拟环境来解决游戏中提出的相同的星尘之谜。什么是星尘？它是在哪里、何时、如何形成的？它是怎么传到乔治华盛顿的又是怎么传到你这里的？这本书提供了一个介绍，用户指南，脚手架和销售渠道的游戏。其次，使用Unity 3-D开发的虚拟环境和游戏将由科学界的一些伟大头脑的XA填充。游戏将支持虚拟探索，例如穿越时间回到大爆炸和虚拟访问XA。XA将由人工智能（AI）系统支持，以支持对话，学生可以获得有关XA的贡献，他们的生活和他们的历史时期的问题的答案。响应将使用每个XA的定制知识库和基于云的混合AI系统生成。 该项目将包括对游戏的形成性评估，并结合书籍摘录，以评估游戏、书籍和XA组合的好处和接受性。

This STTR Phase I project will develop and test a learning platform to facilitate independent, personal and enjoyable science education. The platform combines an engaging book, whose characters employ a fictional virtual environment to solve a mystery, with a complementary computer-based virtual environment to support games, explorations, and interviews with Expert Avatars (XAs), such as Albert Einstein and Henrietta Leavitt, that appear in the book. The goal is to increase the interest in science for children in grades 5-8, where there is a shortage of science teachers, and where educational tools must compete with the high level of technology to which young people are attracted, like games with talking avatars and virtual personal assistants to answer their questions. Increasing students' interest in science careers can help fill the projected worker shortage for high tech industries and provide desperately needed science teachers. Filling these jobs is expected to increase America's GDP (and tax revenues) and high tech exports. This project will develop the initial offering in a projected series to facilitate independent learning of science, mathematics, engineering, history, the arts and other subjects through interesting stories and exciting virtual environments populated with XAs for the leaders in their fields.The project will build on the successful application in education of computer-based virtual environments and games by adding two important features. First, the digital content will be complemented by the book, whose characters use a fictional virtual environment to solve the same STARDUST MYSTERY posed in the game. What is STARDUST? Where, when and how did it form? How did it get into George Washington and from him to you? The book provides an introduction, user's guide, scaffolding and sales channel for the game. Second, the virtual environment and game, developed with Unity 3-D, will be populated by XAs for some of the great minds in science. The game will support virtual explorations, such as a trip back through time to the Big Bang and virtual visits with the XAs. The XA's will be backed by an artificial intelligence (AI) system to support a conversation where students' can get answers to questions about the XA's contributions, their lives and their period in history. Responses will be generated using customized knowledge bases for each XA and a hybrid, cloud-based AI system. The project will include a formative evaluation of the game combined with book excerpts to assess the benefits of, and receptivity to, the game, book and XA combination.