STEMware – Designing Immersive Biology Learning Simulations for Formal and Informal Settings

This project brings together collaborators in science and education research, teaching, and industry and incorporates an innovative professional and youth development program to create, implement, and evaluate STEM-based “serious game” software. Scenarios related to modern biology but set in fantasy worlds are developed by educator-student-scientist partners and used to create STEMware™ –immersive simulations in a 3-D virtual lab environment.  The evaluation includes surveys, interviews, observations, and analysis of secondary data from formal classrooms and informal settings such as afterschool and 4-H programs.