September 2006 — Features
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Educational Gaming :: All the Right MUVEs
In 2004-2005, the researchers worked with 11 teachers and more than 1,000 students in the Boston and Milwaukee areas, and tests were administered to measure specific content knowledge in biology, computer skills, ability to formulate inquiries, enjoyment of science, and knowledge of scientific process. The tests showed that after using River City for 20 class periods, students showed a 32 to 35 percent improvement in their knowledge of biology. Analyzing the letters the students wrote to the mayor of River City, the researchers found that “students demonstrate an understanding of the process of inquiry,” and that “both lowand high-performing students demonstrated a clear causal relationship between the problem and the reason(s) for the problem.” The report also notes two other significant outcomes. In one classroom, where attendance had been a major problem before River City was introduced, the teacher saw a 35 percent decrease in absenteeism from the first to the last week of the project. In the post-program evaluations, teachers and students both asked to use the program again.
During Whyville’s data-collection phase, Cathleen Galas’ sixth-graders wanted to meet in the evenings to complete the work. Galas didn’t seem to mind: "What a great problem for a teacher to have."
Diane Jass Ketelhut, the project’s former director of research and now assistant professor of science education at Temple University (PA), says, “Parents reported that their children were coming home and telling them all about River City at the dinner table. They were impressed not just with what they were hearing, but that their middle school children were telling them about it.”
Next Stop: Whyville
Cathleen Galas had a similar positive experience with MUVEs. Galas, now an educational consultant, taught sixth grade at the University Elementary School (the laboratory school for the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies), where she used River City and Whyville. Unlike River City, which runs on a closed LAN, Whyville is accessed through the internet. Whyville is a virtual metropolis, with its own newspaper, government, suburbia, and economy.
In 2003, Galas worked with researchers at Whyville’s manufacturers, Numedeon, to help her teach epidemiology. Numedeon created a program in Whyville for use by Galas’ class wherein some participants could catch “whypox,” which left the avatar’s face gray and covered with spots. The goal was to teach students about how diseases spread; the program was a major hit.
“I had students say, ‘Please! Assign us homework tonight!’” Galas recalls. “‘If you assign it as homework, my parents will let me go online.’ Some of my students asked me if they could stay in for recess or come in before or after school.” Since Whyville allowed for after-school online meetings, class time could be extended; Galas’ students themselves made the request. During the data-collection phase, she says they asked to meet in the evenings: “We can’t just leave it like this, we can’t wait until tomorrow. Let’s meet tonight at 6!” While acknowledging that it meant a bit of extra time for her, Galas didn’t seem to mind: “What a great problem for a teacher to have.”
Whyville offers a variety of sciencebased activities designed to be fun and to emphasize process over rote learning of facts. Nearly all of its users, or Whyvillians, log in from home or public libraries, though some teachers are beginning to make use of the site directly from the classroom or school computer lab.
