2008 Woodie Awards
Believe it or not, Lunar Quest is rocket science
Richard Bilbao
Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
A team of UCF researchers and graduate students is working on an online game to make science more entertaining to students.
Led by UCF digital media professors Clint Bowers and Jan Cannon-Bowers, the team began development of an online game targeted at high school and early college students that will make learning physics enjoyable.
The game uses educational mini-games to help promote learning.
The team is working on creating a multiplayer online game called Lunar Quest, similar to the online computer game World of Warcraft. Lunar Quest will allow players to interact with others in a massive virtual environment, Cannon-Bowers said.
The game will place the player in the role of a new recruit for the Lunar Colonization Agency, which is in charge of building a livable and sustainable city on the moon. Players will be able to farm, perform repairs on robots and explore the lunar surface while being challenged with missions that implement physics problems.
"The National Science Foundation is funding us to get more people into science and math vocations," Cannon-Bowers said. She estimated that nearly 50 percent of physics students change majors due to the difficulty of the science or the inability to find physics useful.
"We believed the multiplayer aspect would help kids to stay motivated and immersed in the game," Cannon-Bowers said. She said that the story of the game must be compelling enough to engage the student.
"In order to get to the cool stuff, you have to learn how to land your craft, and the concept of physics is built into it," Cannon-Bowers said.
In the game, physics lessons are included in mini-games, such as one where the player reprograms mail-delivery robots. The player must determine the speed and travel distance for the robots as they move from location to location in the city.
Making a game as big and versatile as Lunar Quest is a challenge, game production manager Rachel Joyce said.
Led by UCF digital media professors Clint Bowers and Jan Cannon-Bowers, the team began development of an online game targeted at high school and early college students that will make learning physics enjoyable.
The game uses educational mini-games to help promote learning.
The team is working on creating a multiplayer online game called Lunar Quest, similar to the online computer game World of Warcraft. Lunar Quest will allow players to interact with others in a massive virtual environment, Cannon-Bowers said.
The game will place the player in the role of a new recruit for the Lunar Colonization Agency, which is in charge of building a livable and sustainable city on the moon. Players will be able to farm, perform repairs on robots and explore the lunar surface while being challenged with missions that implement physics problems.
"The National Science Foundation is funding us to get more people into science and math vocations," Cannon-Bowers said. She estimated that nearly 50 percent of physics students change majors due to the difficulty of the science or the inability to find physics useful.
"We believed the multiplayer aspect would help kids to stay motivated and immersed in the game," Cannon-Bowers said. She said that the story of the game must be compelling enough to engage the student.
"In order to get to the cool stuff, you have to learn how to land your craft, and the concept of physics is built into it," Cannon-Bowers said.
In the game, physics lessons are included in mini-games, such as one where the player reprograms mail-delivery robots. The player must determine the speed and travel distance for the robots as they move from location to location in the city.
Making a game as big and versatile as Lunar Quest is a challenge, game production manager Rachel Joyce said.