Projects & Cooperation

Merck – TU Darmstadt Biology Learning Lab
Serious Game in the format of Escape Room in a digital 360° laboratory environment

With the help of 360° technology, students can take their first practical steps in the laboratory in an authentic learning environment and get to know the current working methods and laboratory equipment of a modern, well-equipped biological laboratory of the first safety level. In the virtual laboratory, you solve various tasks, so that learning paths open up that come close to gathering primary experiences in the laboratory environment.

The playful approach and the integrated puzzle logic of an Escape Game support and motivate you to make complex biological subject content accessible in an understandable way. In terms of content, the game deals with the production of vaccines against viruses, whereby the students have to support a professor. The 360° Serious Game also serves as preparation for a classroom visit to the learning laboratory. The game logic is designed in such a way that, in addition to orientation in the laboratory, many of the laboratory devices available there are described, their purposes explained and their functions explained in detail. The cognitive relief should thus support learning in presence in the learning lab on the thematically different lab days. The Serious Game uses a variety of media formats, such as explanatory and learning videos or audio files as well as interactive puzzles and graphics.

The play lasts 70-90 minutes and is aimed at students from grade 8 upwards.

The 360° Serious Game in the format of Escape Room was developed and technically implemented together with the Department of Biology at the TU Darmstadt. It is the first completed product in the context of fuels – Future Learning Spaces.

fuels Taxonomie
#Size --> Spaces
#Tag --> at school / at home
#Technology --> 360°
#Didactic --> orientation, serious game, explorative
_{For details on the fuels taxonomy, see Didactics for Future Learning Spaces}

To Escape Game

Contact:
Dr. Guido Klees / Head of Learning Lab
Markus Weber / Head of the Project fuels – E-Learning Group – TU Darmstadt

International Counter in karo 5

Orientation and digital service for international students in an interactive 360° video

International Student Services offers initial information and easily accessible counselling for international students and prospective students at the International Counter in karo 5 on the Stadtmitte campus. The counter serves as a central first point of contact. In an interactive 360° video environment, the target groups can now get their first orientation before arriving on the TU Darmstadt campus, discover the counter, and learn in a playful way which service points they can contact for various topics.

The application can be used in German or English and offers the possibility to digitally walk around the area Karolinenplatz and university building karo 5. At the beginning of the video, the user is invited to visit the International Counter. The self-determined discovery process not only provides a first orientation on campus, but also helpful information about the surroundings. Once the counter is found and approached, further information can be obtained via a selection of questions, with integrated videos simulating a conversation situation with a person.

By means of a direct approach by the performers in the video, who are student assistants and advise international students on site, users are welcomed to the campus on a more personal level and already in their country of origin. The video serves as another small component of the onboarding phase for international students at the TU Darmstadt, which can be fundamental to successful studies.

The application takes about 5 minutes and is aimed at international students and exchange students of the TU Darmstadt as well as prospective students with a refugee background.

The interactive 360°-video was developed and implemented in cooperation with International Student Services at the International Affairs Department between May and November 2022.

fuels Taxonomy
#Size --> Campus
#Tag --> at home
#Technology --> 360°
#Didactic --> orientation
_{For details on the fuels taxonomy, see Didactics for Future Learning Spaces}

International Student Services Websites:
www.tu-darmstadt.de/iss
www.tu-darmstadt.de/your-stay

Contact:
Natalie Wocko / Digital Services for International Students – Department VIII International TU Darmstadt
Marcella Haller / fuels-Team E-Learning Group – TU Darmstadt

Within the framework of the Department of Physics' practical demonstration course, one of the students' first tasks is to get to know physics equipment and materials and to learn to assess which experimental set-ups they are suitable for.

It is also necessary to know the location of the devices within the building and their individual specifications. With the help of the newly created 360° application from the fuels – Future Learning Spaces project, it will be possible in future for the demonstration practical course 1, the equipment practical course, to virtually walk through the rooms of the physics department in the run-up to the practical course, to view the equipment and to explore its location in the cabinets, but also within the rooms. This is a 360° orientation scenario to prepare the students for the demonstration practical that takes place in presence.

The application can be accessed and used via the internet regardless of location. This is also advantageous during the practical, where the students plan, set up and carry out experiments independently, because they can look to see if the required equipment is available, what alternative equipment is available and where they can find it without having to change location.

The added value for the students lies in the location-independent exploration of the premises and the selection of equipment with the equipment specifications or descriptions available in the environment.

This leads to a reduction of the preparation time in presence, as well as to a better orientation on site. Gamified modules were deliberately omitted, as the didactic objective is purely on the orientation aspect and the examination of the equipment pool. The application was developed in cooperation with the physics department and already contains initial optimisations based on the experience gained from the 360° Escape Game scenario from biology.

fuels Taxonomy
#Size --> Spaces and Objects
#Tag --> at home
#Technology --> 360°
#Didactic --> orientation, explorative
_{For details on the fuels taxonomy, see Didactics for Future Learning Spaces}

Contact:
Senior Academic Councillor Erik Kremser / Head of Demonstration Practical Course IIb
Markus Weber / Head of Project fuels – E-Learning Group – TU Darmstadt

PhysicsLife

The 360° Serious Game “Physics Life” in point-and-click format was developed and implemented in the Didactics of Physics working group in the Department of Physics at the TU Darmstadt. The entire process was accompanied by the fuels team in an advisory capacity.

Pupils usually have stereotypical and abbreviated ideas about the working methods of physicists. Theoretical physics in particular is strongly underrepresented. The serious game “Physics Life” was developed to address this situation and allows students from the eighth grade onwards to experience the everyday work of researchers in physics. The students have to solve various interactive puzzles and tasks in order to complete a research project in theoretical physics. The story reflects the everyday work of physicists in the Collaborative Research Centre 1245 in nuclear and astrophysics. No prior knowledge of physics is necessary at any point.

The 360° technology makes it possible to walk through different rooms of the university and shows the broad spectrum of physicists' activities. In this way, the students can gain an authentic insight into the working methods of modern physics research in a playful way. The play lasts about 60 minutes.

fuels Taxonomy
#Size --> Spaces
#Tag --> at school / at home
#Technology --> 360°
#Didactic --> orientation, serious game, explorative, simulation
_{For details on the fuels taxonomy, seeDidactics for Future Learning Spaces}

Contact:
Moritz Kriegel / Didactics of Physics
Markus Weber / Head of the Project fuels – E-Learning Group – TU Darmstadt