VR 是怎样让学生成为科学家的 Jessica Ochoa Hendrix: How virtual reality turns students into scientists

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How did you discover your passion or find your career? Were you exposed to it?

Or was it trial and error? As child rights advocate Marian Wright Edelman said, "You can't be what you can't see."

Fortunately, we now live in a time when emerging technologies may help us to solve this problem. For the past two years, I've been developing an extended reality program

that enables middle school students from across the country to take on the role of a marine biologisteven if they've never seen the ocean. As one seventh grader who recently completed our program said, "I could see myself as a scientist, because I enjoyed this game."

This feedback really excited me, because too few students do see themselves as scientists. A 2014 study showed that 57 percent of eighth- and ninth-grade students said, "Science isn't me."

Coincidentally, also in 2014, I met Mandë Holford, a marine biochemist, and Lindsay Portnoy, an educational psychologist. The three of us shared a passion for getting students excited by and comfortable with science.

We thought about how we could give children the most realistic experience of a scientific career. We discussed the research; it showed that students felt comfortable taking risks when playing games.

So the three of us started an educational games company to bring science to life. Virtual reality seemed like a low-cost way of increasing access.

In addition, academic research has shown that virtual reality may lead to increases in learning retention. This was perfect for us, as we wanted to be in schools so that we could reach the most number of students possible, particularly students who have been underrepresented in science.

So, with funding from the National Science Foundation, we began developing our extended reality program that combined virtual reality with personalized digital journaling. We worked with teachers while developing it to ensure that it would fit seamlessly into existing curricula and empower teachers to use cutting-edge technology in their classroom.

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