Nano Technology Lab Process
Description: Through virtual hands-on training, students participate in the different steps needed to create nano technology circuit boards.
Skills and Ideas Taught:
- Time: In general, there are limits to how much time the whole process can take before the it or one of the steps might cause total process failure.
- Accuracy of Each Step: There is an order to the process that must be followed and certain buttons pressed that measure processes, amounts, and temperatures that need to be followed in order to achieve a high-quality product.
- Care in the Handling of Material and Equipment: Equipment and materials must be handled carefully since their cost in the real world can be thousands of dollars. The player is learning how to be careful and deliberate in the ways they handle materials in the virtual world.
Only after many hours of going through the processes and gaining mastery in the virtual world, can the players/students use the real-world equipment and materials.
Goal or Challenge: The goal of the game is to learn each of the steps necessary to create flawless circuit boards consistently virtually and then transfer that dexterity and memorization of process on to the real-world equipment. The challenges are to perform the processes accurately within the allotted time, without dropping, breaking materials or spilling liquids,and to clean-up after themselves so that the liquids stay non-contaminated.
Primary Audience: The target audience are college students who are learning Nano Technology as their career. This is also for high school students to experience to see if this is Nano Technology could be a field of interest for them.
Assessment Approach:
- Each time the Lab Process is Completed: At the time of the completion of the process, the players are graded on the whiteboard (within the virtual lab) based upon each step of the process. This is based upon percentages and a letter grade.
- Total Points Earned: Each player (student), every time they log into the lab and participate in the experiments, earns points that are tracked by the game. Their name and corresponding point totals (based upon the lab process percentages) show up on the leaderboard and each player can see their scores and how they compare to each of the other players.
Game Engine: Unity
Operating System: Windows 10
Platform: PC
Special Hardware: Virtual Reality Headset (Samsung Odyssey Plus)