Micronauts Simulator Development to Be Featured at Evaluation Conference
Wed Jul 28 2010
Four members of the Center for Educational Technologies have had their study of the new Micronauts space simulator, which is funded by NASA, accepted for presentation at the annual conference of the American Evaluation Association to be held Nov. 10-13 in San Antonio.
Dr. Laurie Ruberg, associate director of the center, is lead author of the study, entitled "Process Evaluation of an Immersion Learning Experience for Grades K-4 Youth." Coauthors are Jackie Shia, director of the Challenger Learning Center at the Center for Educational Technologies; Cassie Lightfritz, graphic designer; and Annie Morgan, co-lead flight director of the Challenger Learning Center.
The study explores how a variety of technology tools and systems were employed to support the internal formative evaluation of the design, construction, and implementation of the Micronauts simulator for students in grades K-4. The new simulator builds on the success of the existing Challenger Learning Center simulator, which has served more than 100,000 students and teachers.
The evaluation summarizes Micronauts' planning, design, development, and implementation strategies, from the assessment of facilities for restructuring to the design of lighting, furniture, program activities, and the scenario context. The discussion includes a description of media tools and collaborative systems used to collect and organize the documentation, decision-making, and outcomes of formative testing. The presentation will show how media tools were used to document design, construction, implementation, formative testing processes associated with the physical and programmatic components of the simulator development.
