The team will develop a prototype of a multi-player virtual reality (VR) game where middle school students collaborate in observing complex earth science phenomena, such as exploring the ozone. The prototype will include one VR module which presents interactive content and a website portal where students analyze data and keep a personalized digital science journal. At the end of Phase I, in a pilot study of six middle school science classrooms with 120 students, the researchers will examine whether the prototype functions as planned, whether students are able to collaboratively participate in the VR environment, whether students can analyze data through the website portal, and whether the prototype increases student content knowledge from pre to post-study in earth science topics aligned to the experience.
