The University Center of Greenville and SimHub™ is proud to present  our 2011 grant winners with a short description of their projects!

 

 

 

 

 

DEBI SWITZER, PhD

Clemson University

Teacher Education

Project: CTE Island

Clemson professor, Dr. Debi Switzer, has been using Second Life as a tool to improve her teaching in her EDF 302 Educational Psychology course.  Currently, she is using the Clemson Teacher Education (CTE) Island to teach Cognitive Information Processing Theory. The success of the CTE Island has created a need to replicate these builds in an OpenSim platform.  With support from the SimHub staff, professor Switzer will explore saving or reproducing the Clemson education builds for use in future courses in an OpenSim platform.

 

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TIM ELLIS

USC Upstate

Engineering Technology Management

Project: SIMFAC – A virtual factory simulation

 

Mr. Tim Ellis, with USC Upstate Engineering Technology Management will work in conjunction with SimHub staff to begin the development of a virtual factory in an OpenSim platform. The virtual factory will consist of two simulations. The first will be for process mapping exercises based on the ETM 415 Quality Practices course. The second simulation will showcase safe lifting limit calculations and the visual effects of those limits in a 3D environment based on the ETM 330 Engineering Work Analysis course.

 

  

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DARLENE AMENDOLAIR PhD,

SHARON SMITH RN, MS &

CATHERINE TALLEY MSN,

USC Upstate

Mary Black School of Nursing

Project: Virtual Health Care Facility

 

The USC Upstate nursing faculty are developing a multi user virtual environment (MUVE) for use in training student nurses. This project will allow students to practice skill sets that they will use in future hospital or nursing home visits without risking patient safety or causing undue stress for the student nurse. Skills such as therapeutic communication, assessment, prioritizing care, patient safety, and professional behaviors can be taught in a way that allows the student to recognize patterns, instruct in manageable steps of conceptual learning, and develop the needed competencies. The nursing students will be provided the chance to discuss and critique their experiences using virtual worlds as part of this research project.

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CHARLES R. B. STOWE PhD

Lander University

Business Administration

Project: Career Learning Module

Dr. Charles R. B. Stowe of Lander University will design a learning module which will give students the opportunity to identify the differences between business, government and non-profit organizations within South Carolina. This virtual learning module will be based in an OpenSim platform and resemble a business environment. The students, using an avatar, will answer key questions to determine their job interests.  The virtual environment will include opportunities to interact with professionals describing their careers.  Moreover, the students get the opportunities to focus on industries that are growing and available in South Carolina.

 

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JUDY BECK PhD &

DEREK LEWIS

USC Upstate Teacher Education &

Greenville First Steps

Project: Virtual Child Development Center

 

 Greenville’s First Steps and the USC Upstate Teacher Education Programs are working to develop a virtual Child Development Center in an OpenSim platform. The space will be used for formal instructional purposes for child care providers across the Upstate who wish to earn continuing education credits as well as informal interactions with childcare trainers. The virtual childcare center will be composed of different areas to include a walk-in model classroom, infant-toddler guideline classes, a coffee shop and special content areas.

 

 

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BACKMAN, SHEILA PhD,

MR. HUANG, YU-CHIH

Clemson University

Department of Park, Recreation,and Tourism Management

Project: Masai Mara Basecamp

 

Dr. Backman will use the virtual environment that her team created last year as the home base for classroom instruction in an introductory graduate course.  The students will create a tourism lab classroom for use as their immersive environment. Students will learn to use information boards, videos, web surveys in the virtual classroom. A joint reference library will also be created.

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RON FULBRIGHT PhD

USC Upstate Informatics

Student: Heath Clark

 

As a continuation of his 2010 project, Dr. Fulbright is designing a virtual project room for use by collaborative groups using the TRIZ problem solving process. The TRIZ process leads to innovative analysis. Team members often are located in different locations and time zones. Having a platform with all the documentation that could be accessed by members working from various locations could facilitate the effort. This project is using Teleplace for a virtual platform.