WPC 2 a B N c Z Times Roman 3| x c o P C X P " m ^2CRdd CCCdq2C28dddddddddd88qqqY zo CN z o oz zC8C^dCYdYdYCdd88d8 ddddCN8dd ddY`(`l C2CC !CCC CCCCCC Cd8 Y Y Y Y Y YzYzYzYzYC8C8C8C8 d d d d d d d d d d Y d d d d dod Y Y Y Y Y Y Y dzYzYzYzY d d d d d d d dC8C8C8C8 N dz8z8z8z8z8 d d d d d d C C CoNoNoNoNz8z8z8 d d d d d d dzYzYzY dz8 d CoNz8 d d d d dNF 2 dCYdddd d7> d< d < $ YYd CC dd oo CY < qqnn 8! q BBnnn q yy P q7 c1R yy X yy c n n n ~ n yRzczXzc y hCB n n d h c n nonvy XzX s h n ~XyBBnss ~ |y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XXXXXXXyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyBBBBBBBBBBBBnnnnnnnssssssssssss z C C nHP LaserJet IIISi PostScript HPLAIIPO.PRS o P C h h h h * MX P 2 K V Z Courier T ? x x x x 6 X @ K X @ HP LaserJet IIISi PostScript HPLAIIPO.PRS x 6 X @ K h h h h * MX @ 2 } F ^ 3| x 9353320 Loftin Those intimately involved with education generally agree that "experience is the best teacher." The sad reality of the educational process, however, is that students are seldom given opportunities for direct experience of that which is to be learned; instead, they often flounder in teaching by telling classroom situations. A rapidly maturing teachnology, first proposed in the 1960s now offers a novel unique avenue for the delivery of profoundly situated experiential education to students of all age levels. Usually described as "virtual reality," this technology provides sensory inf ormation of such fidelity that the observer can suspend disbelief about feeling "immersed" in an artificial world. Virtual realities not only can simulate real world environments for learners, but also enable artificial worlds that empower immersive, contextualized experiences previously impossible (e.g. slowing the flow of time during an experiment). The goal of this proposed project is charting the potential opportunities and challenges of virtual reality technologies designed for learning in science. The investigators will integrate a virtual reality user interface with intelligent coaching, distributed simulation, and visualization techniques to produce a Virtual Physics Laboratory, a first step toward laboratories for other sciences. Experiments in this Virtual Physics Laboratory will focus on remediating common misconceptions about physics based on learners' misgeneralizations of real world experiences. Using this laboratory, cognitive trials will be conducted with individual learners to research how various aspects of the virtual environment (immersion, visualization, collaboration, contextualized intelligent aids) can be designed to optimize learning. This project's results will aid in establishing the degree to which virtual reality is a useful and affordable instructional adjunct in science education. If these outcomes are promising, funding will be sought for a second phase project to develop and field test virtual realities structured to supplement curricular units in physics and chemistry (and, potentially planetary sciences and biology) for high school and first year college students. ***
