VENOMVENTURE: IMMERSING URBAN AND RURAL FAMILIES IN A BIOMEDICAL MYSTERY (Invited Presentation)

VENOMventure | aVENENOtura is an evolution-themed educational game experience designed by the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) in collaboration with the University of Kansas Natural History Museum (KUNHM) and a number of urban, suburban, and rural museum and library partners and host sites, funded by the NIH-SEPA program. Using a series of narrative-embedded puzzles encoded in artifacts set in an inflatable room, players are challenged to solve a mystery and save the world within a set period of time. The bilingual English/Spanish, immersive game is designed for a diversity of groups and families (ages 8 and up) and the portable structure has popped up in several sites during the summer and fall of 2023, including Berkeley Public Library, Stanislaus County Library, the California Academy of Sciences, and KUNHM.

During the game, players collaborate to interpret and solve puzzles about phylogenetic trees, assessing trait inheritance and analyzing patterns of shared ancestry as they practice critical-thinking and collaboration skills. The game does not require didactic explanation of scientific concepts; instead, the game motivates players to work together to explore and test for themselves different possible interpretations of evolutionary trees and the relationships they represent. The exhibit includes three extension activities that make explicit connections among evolutionary concepts and medical applications, as well as a comic/activity book, that extends the learning experience into the home and introduces youth to biomedical research careers.

Preliminary analysis of pre- and post-game data, observations, and interviews suggests that the game is highly engaging, that participants learn about science while playing the game, and that it helps them connect evolutionary concepts to medical applications. Further testing of the VENOMventure user experiences with our partners and host sites, will improve our understanding of how immersive games can be used to serve broad educational objectives including training the next generation of scientists and encouraging greater a diversity of families to see themselves as successful scientific problem-solvers through a fun, game-based experience.