IT-E3Tools: Information Technology Engineering and Environmental Education Tools

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

A three-year partnership of the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering and the San Diego Supercomputer Center focuses on getting approximately 22,000 sixth- through ninth-grade students and 360 teachers involved in using information technology through gaming in order to solve complex problems related to STEM content. It provides summer experiences for girls through established area summer camps such as TechTreck and Sally Ride Science and in-service on the related content and activities for San Diego area teachers so the project can influence all the students of those teachers. A greater, but less intense impact on students is through encountering the game on the web. The game will be a problem-solving game bringing the students as avatars in contact with environmental problems they must solve. The solutions will require using virtual tools that have been used in the classroom and involve consulting with scientists.