The Mystery of Lehigh Gap: Game-based VR for Informal Learning

Abstract

Game-based Virtual Reality (VR) holds much potential to enhance informal education settings, whether in libraries, museums, environmental centers, or at home. We have designed and developed Mystery of the Lehigh Gap, a VR game for adolescents and adults to learn about the historical changes that occurred in the Lehigh Gap, Pennsylvania, USA due to a zinc smelting plant that operated from 1898-1980. We present the design principles that guided our project's development, which were derived from the research literature on designing learning for informal science education environments, and the affordances that gamified VR can provide. Our iLRN poster with accompanied video presents the first section of the Mystery of the Lehigh Gap. It highlights the narrative context and a series of mini-games in which players learn about historical mining, transportation, and industrial processes at a zinc smelting plant that converted a pristine landscape with vegetation to a barren moonscape. During our poster session, we will discuss our design and development work.