Project Goals

This work is supported by NSF. PIs: Dr. Aditi Wagh, Dr. Eric Klopfer.

We're in this Together is a mixed reality (MR) participatory simulation game to engage middle school science students in exploring complex systems. Our goal is to explore how immersion, embodiment, and presence in MR can be leveraged to support collaborative learning in the classroom.

My role is to propose, document, and test the primary design elements, including game mechanics, system, UX, and interactions for our weather game.

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Instructional Design

We used the following to research weather and its instructional methods:

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LEARNING GOALS

Based on my research, I defined the following learning goals at the intersection of complex systems and 8th grade science standards:

• Students will be able to reason about the interrelations between air masses (involving temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, and wind), landforms (e.g. mountains, hills, cliffs, lakes), and weather fronts. 
• Students will be able to identify how local phenomena affect weather on a global scale through complex interactions.

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Design & Iteration

ALIGNING SCIENCE TO GAME MECHANICS

To achieve our learning goals, I designed ways for players to manipulate air mass movement and properties. Although directly grabbing air masses would be the easiest for students, it would obscure the complex interactions we want students to investigate. Instead, I identified air pressure and terrain height as balanceable, scientifically accurate factors that can be manipulated predictably.

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Students collaborate to place pressure systems and terrain formations across the classroom, aiming to influence weather around their assigned regions.

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EXPLORING COMPLEX SYSTEMS

To achieve our learning goal of connecting complex systems between localities on a global scale, players are split into groups to focus on affecting weather around assigned regions on the map. Although players can only directly influence the air masses that move over their regions, their actions influence air masses that move towards or away from other regions.

Players can see air masses moving across the room, realize that air masses are approaching their region in unpredictable patterns, and trace their origins to other regions. This promotes negotiation and collaboration with other regions to help deflect or send certain air masses their way.

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DESIGNING EMBODIED INTERACTIONS‍

I analyzed 4 main design patterns for terraforming in game and design tools.

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Although a terrain elevation system like in Cities: Skylines is common and well-afforded for computer-based technologies, I advocated for a blended approach where players pinch the land and pull it to their desired height. This design aligns better with embodied gestures in VR and provides easier control over altitude, the most important variable for weather.

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Takeaways

We are currently securing IRB approval for student testing in the coming months. As development progresses, I am collaborating with my team lead to finalize design details and prioritize tasks for the development team to implement. Based on initial user testing, we have re-designed for the following: