Newswise — While Hollywood film crews are creating blockbusters with Academy Award-winning animation software, North Dakota State University, Fargo, uses such software to create virtual worlds to teach science. For a generation of students whose daily existence is tethered to computers, cell phones, iPods and the Internet, professors at NDSU have developed unique methods to reach them. The virtual worlds created at NDSU transport students inside cells to investigate cell structure, cellular respiration, photosynthesis, mRNA processing and other cellular and molecular operations. Featured on the National Science Foundation web site, these online computer games and animations reach students in more dynamic ways than static textbooks. "We build worlds to develop an environment where the student can learn to solve problems," says Phillip McClean, Ph.D., who teaches genetics and plant molecular genetics at NDSU.
Students who enter the Web-based NDSU Virtual Cell Lab learn scientific problem-solving. Players control a virtual submarine to explore plant and animal cells from the inside. "You will be directed toward your research vessel, a Mark IV re-sizing submarine, and its onboard laboratory," notes the game's guide. "You will have a set of controls with which you will maneuver your research vessel, find general cell information and perform experiments. Others can be inside a cell with you. These other researchers are also equipped with a Mark IV research vessel."
Once students begin playing, they seamlessly enter a virtual world to become scientists: performing experiments, interacting with the world and with each other, applying scientific method. The Virtual Cell game allows students from all over the world to communicate, working together simultaneously in their virtual research vessels.
Another component, the NDSU Virtual Cell Animation Collection, uses eight animated movies to teach students about molecular and cellular biology. Originally created to guide programmers who develop educational computer game modules to teach biology, the animations are used as additional tools to teach complex cellular and molecular processes.
Visiting The Virtual Cell allows college students, graduate students and teachers to travel inside these cellular operations. Photos introduce each topic in a section called First Look. An Advanced Look section provides information about the topic. An animated movie unfolds scientific discovery in each scene. Objects appearing in the animated movies are shapes that have previously been discovered using x-ray crystallography and other scientific techniques. In other instances where molecular models are not readily available, the artist's imagination renders them for the screen.
The successful visuals are due in part to Maya® 3-D graphics software from Autodesk.® An Academy Award winner, the software is well known in film circles, used in movies such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Toy Story and other films. The convergence of art and science makes the Virtual Cell animations unique. "We emphasize that these are spatial processes. We want students to understand that it is happening in space and that it is three-dimensional," says Christina Johnson, lead animator for the project.
Audiences, students and gamers see the fun. Teachers see results. "We believe this approach has benefits. They're eyecatching. Students expect a certain level of visual drama or realism," says Brian Slator, Ph.D., computer science professor at NDSU. A robust tutoring system guides students step-by-step. A course management system handles registration for professors who assign students The Virtual Cell in their classes.
"The Virtual Cell animations engage my students, plain and simple," says a professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee who uses the teaching tools. "I know that it takes tons of planning, great design and skill to create science animations of this quality, but my students don't see that—they see the science, which is exactly where I want their attention to be focused."
Although anecdotal evidence is useful, proof that Virtual Cell games and animations enhance student learning underscores their value. Published empirical studies have shown that students who use these tools actually learn the content material more effectively than students who don't use them. The Virtual Cell has also been featured in Science magazine and in the journal Cell Biology Education.
The Virtual Cell represents a portion of the worlds created by the World Wide Web Instructional Committee at NDSU, an eclectic group of educational disciplines including geoscience, computer science, anthropology, education, statistics, and molecular genetics. Through a variety of online educational games, students discover geology, explore archaeological digs or operate a virtual retail store to learn about business and economics.
These virtual teaching tools were developed with funding from the National Science Foundation, the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the U.S. Department of Education and Alias/Wavefront Inc.
To view the virtual worlds mentioned or works cited, visit:http://vcell.ndsu.edu/animations/http://vcell.ndsu.edu/public.htmlhttp://wwwic.ndsu.edu/
Virtual Tools Add New Dimension to Learninghttp://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=106839&org=NSF
Molecules in MotionNetWatch, Science, Vol. 310, No. 5753, 1401, Dec. 2, 2005http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/310/5753/1401e.pdf Molecular and Cellular Biology Animations: Development and Impact on Student LearningCell Biology Education, Vol. 4, 169-179, Summer 2005http://www.lifescied.org/cgi/content/full/4/2/169
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