['
This
', 'NSF-funded
', 'project
', 'utilizes
', 'graphical
', 'multi-user
', 'virtual
', 'environments
', '(MUVEs)
', 'as
', 'a
', 'vehicle
', 'to
', 'study
', '(1)
', 'classroom-based
', 'situated
', 'learning
', 'and
', '(2)
', 'the
', 'ways
', 'in
', 'which
', 'virtual
', 'environments
', 'may
', 'aid
', 'the
', 'transfer
', 'of
', 'learning
', 'from
', 'classroom
', 'contexts
', 'into
', 'real
', 'world
', 'settings.
', 'In
', 'the
', "project's
", 'River
', 'City
', 'curriculum,
', 'teams
', 'of
', 'middle
', 'school
', 'students
', 'are
', 'asked
', 'to
', 'collaboratively
', 'solve
', 'a
', 'simulated
', '19
', 'th
', 'century
', "city's
", 'problems
', 'with
', 'illness,
', 'through
', 'interaction
', 'with
', 'each
', "others'
", '"avatars,"
', 'digital
', 'artifacts,
', 'tacit
', 'visual
', 'and
', 'auditory
', 'clues,
', 'and
', 'computer-based
', '"agents"
', 'acting
', 'as
', 'mentors
', 'and
', 'colleagues
', 'in
', 'a
', 'virtual
', 'community
', 'of
', 'practice.
', 'In
', 'this
', 'paper,
', 'we
', 'provide
', 'an
', 'overview
', 'of
', 'results
', 'from
', 'a
', 'large-scale
', 'implementation
', 'of
', 'the
', 'River
', 'City
', 'environment
', 'and
', 'curriculum
', 'in
', 'Spring
', '2004.
', 'Our
', 'findings
', 'show
', 'that
', 'students
', 'and
', 'teachers
', 'were
', 'highly
', 'engaged,
', 'that
', 'student
', 'attendance
', 'improved,
', 'that
', 'disruptive
', 'behavior
', 'dropped,
', 'and
', 'that
', 'interesting
', 'patterns
', 'are
', 'emerging
', 'about
', 'which
', 'students
', 'do
', 'best
', 'under
', 'our
', 'various
', 'pedagogical
', 'conditions.
', 'A
', 'major
', 'goal
', 'for
', 'education
', 'in
', 'the
', '21st
', 'century
', 'is
', 'to
', 'create
', 'scientifically
', 'literate
', 'citizens
', 'who
', 'are
', 'able
', 'to
', 'think
', 'critically,
', 'make
', 'sense
', 'of
', 'complex
', 'data,
', 'and
', 'solve
', 'problems
', '(AAAS,
', '1993;
', 'NRC,
', '1996).
', 'Research
', 'suggests
', 'that,
', 'if
', 'all
', 'students
', 'are
', 'to
', 'become
', 'scientifically
', 'literate,
', 'science
', 'instruction
', 'must
', 'convey
', 'greater
', 'engagement
', 'and
', '
meaning
', 'to
', 'them.
', 'To
', 'achieve
', 'this,
', 'science
', 'instruction
', 'in
', 'secondary
', 'schools
', 'must
', 'provide
', 'students
', 'with
', 'opportunities
', 'to
', 'explore
', 'the
', 'world,
', 'to
', 'apply
', 'scientific
', 'principles,
', 'to
', 'sample
', 'and
', 'analyze
', 'data
', 'and
', 'to
', 'make
', 'connections
', 'among
', 'these
', 'explorations,
', 'their
', 'personal
', 'lives,
', 'and
', 'their
', 'communities.
', 'However,
', 'given
', 'the
', 'constraints
', 'of
', 'classroom
', 'settings,
', 'real
', 'world
', 'data
', 'collection
', 'is
', 'challenging
', 'to
', 'orchestrate.
', 'Due
', 'to
', 'safety
', 'issues
', 'and
', 'lack
', 'of
', 'equipment,
', 'laboratory
', 'experiments
', 'are
', 'also
', 'difficult
', 'to
', 'conduct.
', 'It
', 'is
', 'no
', 'surprise
', 'that
', 'educators
', 'report
', 'teaching
', 'higher
', 'order
', 'inquiry
', 'skills
', '(such
', 'as
', 'hypothesis
', 'formation
', 'and
', 'experimental
', 'design)
', 'is
', 'among
', 'the
', 'most
', 'difficult
', 'challenges
', 'they
', 'face
', 'with
', 'students
', 'who
', 'have
', 'a
', 'history
', 'of
', 'low
', 'achievement
', 'in
', 'and
', 'engagement
', 'with
', 'science.
', 'With
', 'NSF
', 'funding,
', 'we
', 'are
', 'creating
', 'and
', 'studying
', 'graphical
', 'multi-user
', 'virtual
', 'environments
', '(MUVEs)
', 'to
', 'enhance
', 'middle
', 'school
', "students'
", 'motivation
', 'and
', 'learning
', 'about
', 'science
', 'and
', 'society
', '(http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/muvees2003/).
', 'MUVEs
', 'enable
', 'multiple
', 'simultaneous
', 'participants
', 'to
', 'access
', 'virtual
', 'contexts,
', 'to
', 'interact
', 'with
', 'digital
', 'artifacts,
', 'to
', 'represent
', 'themselves
', 'through
', '"avatars,"
', 'to
', 'communicate
', 'with
', 'other
', 'participants
', 'and
', 'with
', 'computer-based
', 'agents,
', 'and
', 'to
', 'enact
', 'collaborative
', 'learning
', 'activities
', 'of
', 'various
', 'types.
', 'Our
', '"River
', 'City"
', 'MUVE
', 'is
', 'centered
', 'on
', 'higher
', 'order
', 'scientific
', 'inquiry
', 'skills,
', 'as
', 'well
', 'as
', 'on
', 'content
', 'related
', 'to
', 'national
', 'standards
', 'in
', 'biology
', 'and
', 'ecology.
']