Developing an Informed Community of People Who Are Interested in Advancing 3D Virtual World Instruction

Principal Investigator:

John Cabra, Buffalo State College

The authors of this study were directly involved in designing and imparting a graduate-level Principles of Creative Problem Solving (CPS) course in a 3D virtual world (Qube). They have utilized this experience to monitor and evaluate the effects of their facilitation approach, QUBE features and pedagogical activities with the aim of improving and generalizing practice. To study the potential of this platform a participatory action research method was selected. This worked differed from the original abstract. The necessary subjects needed to conduct the work, as described in the original abstract, were not obtained.

The objectives of this pilot study were to: (1) explore the potential of the virtual world, QUBE, for CPS activities; (2) understand the barriers and solutions to using QUBE, including participant and presenter training; (3) measure participant learning outcomes and feedback. Overall, the results of the study were encouraging, and supported the initial belief that a collaborative, 3D, platform could be used to teach CPS in an interactive manner. In post course evaluations, students agreed that course objectives were met.

Co-PI’s and Key Partners:

Dr. Cyndi Burnett, KnowInnovation

Reports and Resources:

Creative Commons License:

Attribution Non-Commercial Use