Designing Virtual Laboratories - Decarboxylation Reactions, Vacuum Distillation and Virus Identification by PCR in the Lablife3D Second Life Laboratory

Tuomas Kangasniemi, Sebastian Olkinuora, Pekka Joensuu, Olli Natri, Pekka Qvist, Martti Ketola, Hanna Virtanen, Jaana Brusin, Marko Närhi, Reija Jokela, Eero Palomäki, Hannu Tiitu, Katrina Nordström

2013

Abstract

Practical skills are one of the core competencies in technology, engineering and the natural sciences. However, the busy curriculum in many universities lacks space and time for the learning-by-doing experience to mature. Therefore, we have designed and implemented a virtual laboratory, LabLife3D, to Second Life, to bridge the gap between theory and practice. To date, we have designed five virtual laboratory exercises in the biological sciences and chemistry there: a virus isolation experiment, a laboratory safety tutorial, organic chemistry simulations on (a) decarboxylation reactions and (b) vacuum distillation, and a molecular biology simulation on identifying a virus with polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This paper presents their design process and outlines their contents. General design objectives in virtual laboratories are also discussed, along with laboratory simulations in Second Life by other groups. All the exercises have been designed in accordance with content-specific learning goals and outcomes, which are discussed. In addition to creation of contents, we have also recently studied the usability of our simulations and conducted a student assessment. Preliminary results of the student assessment are presented.

References

  1. Arango, F., Chang, C., Esche, S. K. and Chassapis, C. (2007). A Scenario for Collaborative Learning in Virtual Engineering Laboratories. In 37th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (pp. F3G-7 to F3G-12). doi:10.1109/FIE.2007.4417818.
  2. Barab, S. A., Hay, K. A., Squire, K., Barnett, K., Schmidt, R., Karrigan, K., Yamagata-Lynch, L. and Johnson, C. (2000). Virtual Solar System Project: Learning Through a Technology-Rich, Inquiry-Based, Participatory Learning Environment. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 9, 7-25. doi:10.1023/A:1009416822783.
  3. Biggs, J. (1999). “What the student does for enhanced learning”, Higher Education Research and Development, 18, 57-75. doi:10.1080/0729436990180105.
  4. Cobb, S., Heaney, R., Corcoran, O. and Henderson-Begg, S. (2009). The Learning Gains and Student Perceptions of a Second Life Virtual Lab. Bioscience Education, 13, article 5. doi:10.3108/beej.13.5.
  5. Daniel, C. (2008). The Educational Attributes of Some of the World's “top 50” Universities: A Discussion Paper. Perth: University of Western Australia.
  6. Dickey, M. D. (2005). Three-Dimensional Virtual Worlds and Distance Learning: Two Case Studies of Active Worlds as a Medium for Distance Education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36, 439-451. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2005.00477.x.
  7. Eschenbrenner, B., Nah, F. and Siau, K. (2008). 3-D virtual worlds in education: Applications, benefits, issues, and opportunities. Journal of Database Management, 19, 91-110.
  8. Graves, L. (2008, January 10). A Second Life for Higher Ed. US News & World Report 14(2), 49-50. http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/ articles/2008/01/10/a-second-life-for-higher-ed (retrieved 9 Nov 2012).
  9. Helmer, J. (2007). Second Life and Virtual Worlds. No place: Learning Light Limited. http://www. norfolkelearningforum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/ 2009/04/virtual-worlds_ll_oct_2007.pdf (retrieved 9 Nov 2012).
  10. Holmberg, K. & Huvila, I. (2008). Learning together apart: Distance education in a virtual world. First Monday, vol. 13. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/ bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2178/2033 (retrieved 9 Nov 2012).
  11. Inman, C., Wright, V. H. and Hartman, J. A. (2010). Use of Second Life in K-12 and Higher Education: A Review of Research. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 9, 44-63. http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/9.1.3.pdf.
  12. Josephsen, J. and Kristensen, A. K. (2006). Simulation of laboratory assignments to support students' learning of introductory inorganic chemistry. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 7, 266-279. doi:10.1039/B6RP90013E.
  13. Kangasniemi, T. (2012). A new environment for chemical education: The decarboxylation reactions of fatty acids and experimenting with them in a 3D virtual laboratory built in Second Life [title from abstract in English; text is in Finnish]. M.Sc. (Tech.) Thesis. Espoo: Aalto University School of Chemical Technology.
  14. Kolmos, A., Du, X., Holgaard, J. and Jensen L.-P. (2008). Facilitation in a PBL environment. Aalborg: Aalborg University. ISBN 978-87-991994-8-8.
  15. Mason, H. (2007). Experiential Education in Second Life. In Proceedings of the Second Life Education Workshop 2007 (pp. 14-18). http:// www.simteach.com/ slccedu07proceedings.pdf (retrieved 9 Nov 2012).
  16. Mikropoulos, T. A. (2001). Brain Activity on Navigation in Virtual Environments. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 24, 1-12. doi:10.2190/D1W3-Y15D-4UDW-L6C9.
  17. Mikropoulos, T., A. and Natsis, A. (2010). Educational virtual environments: A ten-year review of empirical research (1999-2009). Computers & Education, 56, 769-780. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.10.020.
  18. Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability Engineering. Boston, MA: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-518406-9.
  19. Nielsen, J. (1994). Heuristic Evaluation. In Nielsen, J. and Mack, R. L. (eds.), Usability Inspection Methods. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-01877-5.
  20. Nielsen, J. (2005, January 1). 10 Usability Heuristics. Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox. http://www.nngroup.com/ articles/ten-usability-heuristics/ (retrieved 4 Feb 2013).
  21. Olkinuora, S. (2012). Design of a Molecular Biology Laboratory in Second Life. M.Sc. (Tech.) Thesis. Espoo: Aalto University School of Chemical Technology.
  22. Palomäki, E. (2009). Applying 3D Virtual Worlds to Higher Education. M.Sc. (Tech.) Thesis. Espoo: Helsinki University of Technology, Faculty of Information and Natural Sciences.
  23. Palomäki, E., Natri, O., Joensuu, P., Närhi, M., Kähkönen, E., Jokela, R., Hemminki, M., Korpelainen, P., Vepsäläinen, J. and Nordström, K. (2010). LabLife3D: Teaching biotechnology and chemistry to engineering students by using Second Life. In Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010 19th-22nd September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia (paper ID 2376). http://www.sefi.be/wp-content/papers2010/papers/ 2376.pdf (retrieved 9 Nov 2012).
  24. Palomäki, E. and Nordbäck, E. (2012). Bringing Playfulness and Engagement to Language Training Using Virtual Worlds: Student Experiences, Results, and Best Practices from a Virtual Language Course. A paper presented at 2nd Global Conference on Experiential Learning in Virtual Worlds, Prague, Czech Republic, April 12-14.
  25. Quinn, C. (2005, August 18). Soapbox: Making Learning Fun. Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/ feature/2375/soapbox_making_learning_fun.php (retrieved 9 Nov 2012).
  26. Richter, J., Anderson-Inman, L. and Frisbee, M. (2007). Critical Engagement of Teachers in Second Life: Progress in the SaLamander Project”. In Proceedings of the Second Life Education Workshop 2007 (pp. 19- 26). http://www.simteach.com/ slccedu07proceedings.pdf (retrieved 4 Feb 2013).
  27. Sampola, P. (2008). The development of the user-centric usability evaluation method adapted to the evaluation of Virtual Learning Environments [title from abstract in English; text is in Finnish]. PhD Thesis. Vaasa: University of Vaasa. ISBN 978-952-476-234-2.
  28. Strangman, N., Hall, T. and Meyer, A. (2003). Virtual Reality and Computer Simulations and the Implications for UDL Implementation: Curriculum Enhancements Report. No place: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum [NCAC]. http://aim.cast.org/sites/. aim.cast.org/files/VR_UDL.pdf (retrieved 4 Feb 2013)
  29. Warburton, S. (2009). Second Life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40, 414- 426. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00952.x.
Download


Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Kangasniemi T., Olkinuora S., Joensuu P., Natri O., Qvist P., Ketola M., Virtanen H., Brusin J., Närhi M., Jokela R., Palomäki E., Tiitu H. and Nordström K. (2013). Designing Virtual Laboratories - Decarboxylation Reactions, Vacuum Distillation and Virus Identification by PCR in the Lablife3D Second Life Laboratory . In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU, ISBN 978-989-8565-53-2, pages 661-672. DOI: 10.5220/0004353606610672


in Bibtex Style

@conference{csedu13,
author={Tuomas Kangasniemi and Sebastian Olkinuora and Pekka Joensuu and Olli Natri and Pekka Qvist and Martti Ketola and Hanna Virtanen and Jaana Brusin and Marko Närhi and Reija Jokela and Eero Palomäki and Hannu Tiitu and Katrina Nordström},
title={Designing Virtual Laboratories - Decarboxylation Reactions, Vacuum Distillation and Virus Identification by PCR in the Lablife3D Second Life Laboratory},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU,},
year={2013},
pages={661-672},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0004353606610672},
isbn={978-989-8565-53-2},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU,
TI - Designing Virtual Laboratories - Decarboxylation Reactions, Vacuum Distillation and Virus Identification by PCR in the Lablife3D Second Life Laboratory
SN - 978-989-8565-53-2
AU - Kangasniemi T.
AU - Olkinuora S.
AU - Joensuu P.
AU - Natri O.
AU - Qvist P.
AU - Ketola M.
AU - Virtanen H.
AU - Brusin J.
AU - Närhi M.
AU - Jokela R.
AU - Palomäki E.
AU - Tiitu H.
AU - Nordström K.
PY - 2013
SP - 661
EP - 672
DO - 10.5220/0004353606610672