We analyze the state education agency policy guidance concerning remote learning published by all 50 U.S. states by the end of March 2020. We find several areas of consensus, including cancellation of testing, recommendations to continue some form of remote learning, attention to digital and non-digital options, and a concerns for providing a fair and appropriate education for students with disabilities. The primary area of policy divergence that we found regarded the purpose of continuous learning during a pandemic: whether to pursue forward progress in standards-aligned new material or whether to pursue skills review and enrichment learning. We recommend that states continue to emphasize equity, consider the particular challenges of home-based learning, and produce concise communications for multiple target audiences.

No abstract

Iterative user and expert feedback in the design of an educational virtual reality biology gameThis study focuses on an educational game titled Cellverse, a two-player cross-platform VR project intended to teach high school biology students about cell structure and function. In Cellverse, players work in pairs to explore a human lung cell and diagnose and treat a dangerous genetic disorder. Cellverse is being designed by the Collaborative Learning Environments in Virtual Reality (CLEVR) team, an interdisciplinary team consisting of game designers, educational researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students. Using a design-based research approach, we have enlisted the help of both subject matter experts and user testers to iteratively design and improve Cellverse. The objective of this paper is to share how user and expert feedback can inform and enhance the development of learning games. We describe how we gather and synthesize information from in-game observations, semi-structured interviews, and video data to review and revise our game. We discuss the input of subject matter experts, present feedback from our user testers, and describe how input from both parties influenced the design of Cellverse. Our results suggest that including feedback from both experts and users has provided information that can clarify gameplay, instruction, subject portrayal, narrative, and in-game goals.

It has been recently shown that thalamic nuclei can be automatically segmented using diffusion tensor images (DTI) under the assumption that principal fiber orientation is similar within a given nucleus and distinct between adjacent nuclei. Validation of these methods, however, is challenging because manual delineation is hard to carry out due to the lack of images showing contrast between the nuclei. In this paper, we present a novel gray-scale contrast for DTI visualization that accentuates voxels in which the orientations of the principal eigenvectors are changing, thus providing an edge map for the delineation of some thalamic nuclei. The method uses the principal fiber orientation computed from the diffusion tensors computed at each voxel. The three-dimensional orientations of the principal eigenvectors are represented as five dimensional vectors and the spatial gradient (matrix) of these vectors provide information about spatial changes in tensor orientation. In particular, an edge map is created by computing the Frobenius norm of this gradient matrix. We show that this process reveals distinct edges between large nuclei in the thalamus, thereby making manual delineation of the thalamic nuclei possible. We briefly describe a protocol for the manual delineation of thalamic nuclei based on this edge map used in conjunction with a registered T1-weighted MR image, and present a preliminary multi-rater evaluation of the volumes of thalamic nuclei in several subjects.

This study examines how different roles and background knowledge transform players' dyadic conversations into spatial dialogues in a virtual cellular biology game. Cellverse is a collaborative Virtual Reality (VR) game designed to teach cell biology. Players work in pairs, assuming the role of either a Navigator, with reference material and a global view through a tablet, or an Explorer, with a more detailed interactive view of the cell through a VR headset and hand controllers. The game is designed so players must collaborate in order to complete the game. Our results show that roles influenced their reference perspectives at a level of statistical significance. Furthermore players with high prior knowledge tried to reduce their partner`s mental effort by giving spatial information from their point of view, thus producing fewer occurrences of spatial unawareness. Results of this study suggest that designers can build in different roles and leverage different background knowledge to prompt effective partnerships during collaborative games.

Cells are central to the study of biology, yet many learners have difficulties understanding the abstract yet fundamental foundation of life. Research suggests that students' conceptions of cells are reinforced by current biology learning materials, which represent cells as two dimensional, highly ordered, and mostly empty. These models also inaccurately represent the number, location, and size of organelles. We examine the effect of an inquiry-based three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) game on high school students' mental models of cells. Students reported that the game was more interactive and engaging than traditional ways of learning about cells and attributed an improved understanding of cells to their game experience. Students' post drawings of cells depicted more types of organelles, increased density of organelles, and additional complexity than their pretest drawings, indicating a movement towards more accurate mental models of cells. However, students' scores did not improve on their factual knowledge about cells between the pretest and the post-game biology assessments. We discuss the implications of incorporating game-based approaches and new technologies such as VR into biology education.

No abstract

Abstract:Teacher practice spaces are learning environments, inspired by games and simulations, that allow teachers to rehearse for and reflect upon important decisions in teaching. Practice-based teacher educators use a variety of approaches to simulation in methods courses and other professional learning opportunities, and existing simulations often attempt to holistically replicate authentic teaching conditions. We extend this work by developing new kinds of practice spaces that do not attempt to fully simulate teaching, but rather offer playful and creative opportunities for novice teachers to develop skills and dispositions valuable for teachers. We summarize six different practice spaces developed through design research, and then articulate a set of design considerations emerging from this work to expand the genre of pedagogies of enactment in teacher professional development.