Pandemic Minecrafting: an analysis of the perceptions of and lessons learned from a gamified virtual geology field camp

Rader, Erika; Love, Renee; Reano, Darryl; Dousay, Tonia A.; Wingerter, Natasha

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-4-475-2021

Articles | Volume 4, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-4-475-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Virtual geoscience education resources (SE/GC inter-journal...

https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-4-475-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 4, issue 4

Research article

|

19 Oct 2021

Research article |

| 19 Oct 2021

Pandemic Minecrafting: an analysis of the perceptions of and lessons learned from a gamified virtual geology field camp

Erika Rader, Renee Love, Darryl Reano, Tonia A. Dousay, and Natasha Wingerter

Model code and software

European project for popularizing science through video games, ORBi M. Godfirnon, E. Pirard, M. Evrard, P. Barnabé, and A. Shikika http://hdl.handle.net/2268/251387

Dynamic 3-Point Geological Plane Solver, Geologic Web Utilities J. Jamieson and G. Herman http: //www.impacttectonics.org/GeoTools/3ppops.html

Resource Pack Workbench MightyPork https://mcrpw.github.io

Tangram Heightmapper Mapzen https://tangrams.github.io/heightmapper/#12.6875/45.4652/-112.5559

Image Map Tryashtar https://github. com/tryashtar/image-map

Orientation symbol generator S. J. Whitmeyer http://csmgeo.csm.jmu.edu/geollab/Whitmeyer/ web/visuals/GoogleEarth/tools/SD.html

Video supplement

Pandemic Minecrafting E. Rader https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaHjgfz6eINe9UgTT9tZs7ZAb9nvn8l0J

Short summary

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, we designed a virtual geology field camp based in the video game Minecraft. Students learned how to map geological features on the surface and in the subsurface using this fun and engaging platform. Students' perceptions of the course were positive, and they showed improvement in basic geologic skills between pre-assessment and post-assessment surveys. Students discussed career pathways and skills and fostered interpersonal relationships.