As part of our on-going educational work, the Space Science
Institute is interested in developing a museum-based, hands-on
activity to simulate a remote hydrobotic exploration of the alleged
Europan ocean. We envision this activity as an anchor part of
a larger museum-based program or exhibition focusing on several
key concepts in astrobiology.
The
Europa Exploration Simulator activity will eventually involve
a real swimming robot, remotely operated within a large and completely
dark water tank. The operation of this hydrobot will be performed
by a team of learners charged with piloting the craft, operating
its cameras, and conducting various analyses with its instruments
in search of “life
clues.” In doing so, participants will learn about biosignatures,
the technology required for such exploration, and the all-important
elements of teamwork and communication needed for success.
As a first step towards
the development of this activity, we proposed for and won an IDEAS
grant to create a computer-based virtual prototype to address several
questions: What
is the optimum number of team members to operate the hydrobot?
How many interfaces or operation consoles will be needed? What
should be the design of these consoles to ensure ease of use
and learning? What tasks can we realistically ask participants
to perform with the hydrobot that achieve our learning goals?
Can we design the activity to be scalable from grade-school aged
learners through high school and yet use the same physical apparatus,
and if so, how? And of course, what learning objectives can we
meet with this activity that are unknowable a priori? Determining
the answers via virtual prototyping will save untold
dollars and time over actual physical prototyping methods.
The Europa Exploration
Simulator Virtual Prototype will exist and function entirely in
software. Learners will engage in the activity on computers – either self-contained or
on the web. A completely software driven prototype will
allow us to quickly and cheaply create and change design components,
activity tasks and sequences, and even learning objectives in
order to answer the questions posed above with actual data from
real people.
The prototype will also allow us to evaluate
situations in which team members work well or do not work well
together in different variations of the simulation. Further,
it will indicate to us where and how educator facilitation might
best be used. In fact, we will introduce educator facilitation
into the virtual prototyping process by having an educator interact
with team-members as they engage in the activity. We can then
experiment with different facilitation strategies, which will
be applied to the full-up physical activity when it is built.
Our evaluation plan includes details on how we will conduct focus
groups through Fiske Planetarium outreach program through the University of Colorado – Boulder.
Finally, in addition to providing us with the information
needed to create the best design for the final physical activity,
the creation of the virtual prototype will also result in a stand-alone
educational activity, playable by multiple users over the internet.
This standalone activity will be hosted on the Alien Earths website. The Space Science
Institute is building this website to accompany the Alien Earths national traveling museum
exhibition. As a web-capable activity, the virtual prototype also
creates the opportunity for team-members from different geographical
regions to operate the hydrobot, thus introducing a distant learning
component. Additionally, we will be able to track data on the activity
as part of the general evaluation of the site.
Technical Specifications
The
Europa Exploration Simulator Virtual Prototype will be a web-capable,
MAC and PC compatible, computer activity operated simultaneously
by multiple users comprising the hydrobot team. We will create
the virtual prototype activity with Macromedia Director, using
a Shockwave rendered 3-D environment, fed by a simple flat file
database and read by Lingo, Macromedia’s
proprietary back-end language.
Goals and Objectives
This project really has two sets of goals; one as a prototyping
method, and the other as a stand-alone deliverable. As a virtual
prototype, the goals and objectives are as follows:
Goal 1:
To create a prototype of the “to be developed” Europa
Exploration Simulator at low cost and with high flexibility and “user
experience efficacy.”
Objectives:
o To create a virtual (computer-based) version of the intended Simulator
o To ensure that the virtual prototype can be altered quickly and
significantly
Goal 2:
To obtain data about the prototype and its use in order to inform
the best design for the final hardware version of the Europa Exploration
Simulator
Objectives:
o To evaluate multiple versions of the prototype with actual learners
(see evaluation plan below)
o To execute changes based on this evaluation and re-test new variation
with actual learners
o To examine the role educational facilitators might play to enhance
the experience of learners in this activity
Goal 3:
To utilize the prototype in real learning situations for the benefit
of learners.
Objectives:
o To ensure the prototypes usability as a web-delivered activity
o To distribute the prototype on the Alien Earths website
o To distribute the prototype through CU’s Fiske Planetarium
Outreach Program
As a stand-alone deliverable, the goals, objectives, and activities
of this project are as follows:
Learning Goal 1:
Promote understanding about why Europa may be a good candidate to
harbor life
Objectives: Learners will…
o Understand that water is the solvent for life on Earth and is
important for our search for life elsewhere
o Understand the evidence that Europa may have a liquid water ocean
under its surface, a source of heat, and a sources of dissolved nutrients
important for life
o Understand what the ‘life clues” on Europa might be
(chemical bio-signatures, presence of organic materials, proteins,
or enzymes, detection of microorganisms)
Learning Goal 2:
Promote understanding about the search for life in extreme places
on Earth
Objectives: Learners will…
o Understand that life exists in “hostile” places on
Earth where it was once thought impossible
o Understand the concept of Earth-based analogs for the search for
life elsewhere in the solar system
o Understand the great interest in Lake Vostok as an analog for
Europa
Learning Goal 3:
Promote understanding of the technology being developed for future
missions to Europa.
Objectives: Learners will…
o Understand the practical requirements of a hydrobotic mission
to Europa (landing, drilling or melting through ice, remotely operating
a robot in 3 dimensional underwater environment)
o Understand the tools needed in the search for life in such an
environment (chemical analyzers, multi-spectral cameras, X-ray scan
for elements in a target, sample return devices)
o Understand the need for protection protocols on Earth and other
planets to prevent contamination of pristine environments
Learning Goal 4:
Promote understanding of the importance of teamwork and communication
in mission success.
Objectives: Learners will…
o Gain first-hand experience working with teammates to accomplish
robotic tasks
o Understand the need for clear communication and sequential procedures
o Collect, examine and communicate “scientific” results
and contribute in decision-making for next-steps
