POSE: Phase I: Open Source Ecosystem of Inclusive Interactive Media with PhET's MVC (Physics Education Technology's Model-View-Controller) Framework

该项目由开放源代码生态系统之路（POSE）资助，旨在利用开放源代码开发的力量，为国家和社会重要问题创造新技术解决方案。在过去的10年里，科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的PhET（物理教育技术）交互模拟小组开发了一个开源代码库，即PhET模型-视图-控制器（MVC）框架。此代码库已用于创建一套交互式模拟，用于世界各地的科学和数学主题的教学和学习。该项目将研究围绕PhET MVC框架构建开源生态系统的潜力。该项目的新颖之处包括强调技术基础设施和设计模式，支持视觉、听觉和触觉显示，具有多种输入方式，包括传统的鼠标和触摸、替代输入，以及通过计算机视觉、对象跟踪和自然手势。这些特性可以支持从PhET MVC框架创建的交互式媒体的用户，跨越人类在感官、移动性和认知能力方面的广泛差异。该项目还将作为一个关键的催化剂，能够发现特定的用户、贡献者和增长的治理需求。该项目的影响将包括提高教育媒体对无障碍功能的认识和使用，可能导致更多地将残疾人纳入教育环境和其他环境。在这个项目中，具有开源许可、PhET代码库和定性研究方法专业知识的研究人员将推进多种调查途径，以告知PhET MVC框架向开源生态系统的过渡。这包括：1)通过调查、焦点小组和市场研究确定现有社区的特征、社区需求和新社区的潜在增长；2)通过研讨会、与顾问委员会的讨论和参与NSF关于开源生态系统的培训，探索现有和潜在的成员流程、结构和治理模式；3)通过调查和焦点小组，在现有社区和新社区之间建立社区建设机制；4)探索范例文档、入门材料和区域社区支持结构的效用和反馈。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is funded by Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) which seeks to harness the power of open-source development for the creation of new technology solutions to problems of national and societal importance. Over the past 10 years, the PhET (Physics Education Technology) Interactive Simulations group at the University of Colorado Boulder has developed an open-source codebase, the PhET Model-View-Controller (MVC) Framework. This codebase has been used to create a suite of interactive simulations used around the world for teaching and learning science and math topics. This project will examine the potential for building an open-source ecosystem around the PhET MVC Framework. The project’s novelties include an emphasis on the technical infrastructure and design patterns supporting visual, auditory, and haptic displays with diverse input modalities including traditional mouse and touch, alternative input, and through computer vision, object tracking and naturalistic gesture. These features can support users of interactive media created from the PhET MVC Framework across a broad span of human diversity in sensory, mobility, and cognitive abilities. This project will also serve as a critical catalyst, enabling the discovery of specific user, contributor, and governance needs for growth. The project’s impacts will include an amplification of the awareness and use of accessibility features for educational media, potentially leading to greater inclusion of people with disabilities in educational contexts and beyond.In this project, investigators with expertise in open-source licensing, PhET’s codebase, and qualitative research methods will advance multiple avenues of investigation to inform the transition of the PhET MVC Framework to an open source ecosystem. These include: 1) identifying existing community characteristics, community needs, and potential growth of new communities through surveys, focus groups, and market research; 2) exploring existing and potential member processes, structure, and governance models through workshops, discussions with the board of advisors, and participation in NSF training on open source ecosystems; and 3) developing community building mechanisms across existing and new communities through surveys and focus groups; and 4) exploration of utility and feedback on exemplar documentation, onboarding materials, and structures for regional community supports.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.