John Krajewski

In prior projects, including a 2015 ED/IES SBIR award, the team developed two immersive multiplayer virtual game environments. In Eco and Colony, middle school students collaboratively apply scientific practices within the virtual worlds to address challenges, such as the availability of resources and energy and maintaining clean water.

This project will develop and test Eco, an online multiplayer virtual environment and game designed to enhance middle school students' knowledge of ecology and environmental literacy. This is important because according to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, students in the United States ranked 17th in science among the world's most developed countries, and over a third of eighth-graders scored below basic level, the lowest performance level. The Framework for 21st Century ...

The project team is developing a prototype of Eco, a multi-player game to prepare high school students to be environmentally literate citizens with 21st century skills. To play the game, students will enter a shared online world featuring a simulated ecosystem of plants and animals.