New in Bentley University's Undergraduate Core: "Living in the Metaverse"
Grush: Why is learning to live in the metaverse of value for the section of first-year students you teach? What are some of the learning goals of the core curriculum that are served?
Frydenberg: The goals of FDS are to develop students' academic skills in areas such as information literacy, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving, while introducing them to a complex problem that can be approached from multidisciplinary perspectives.
Yates: We want our students to explore the theme of Living in the Metaverse through the lens of business opportunities, social concerns, and technological innovation.
For example, from a business perspective, students learn about new business models the metaverse offers, which bridge the physical and digital worlds. Among the social concerns, students explore issues related to self-identity by creating avatars, and they examine how they interact with others similarly or differently in physical and virtual worlds.
Frydenberg: We also want students to be aware of the technological foundations and developments necessary for the metaverse to become mainstream. Mobile devices, wearable computing, augmented and virtual reality, wireless Internet, digital currencies, blockchain, and advanced communication networks all converge to enable immersive environments where virtual worlds become possible.
Mobile devices, wearable computing, augmented and virtual reality, wireless Internet, digital currencies, blockchain, and advanced communication networks all converge to enable immersive environments where virtual worlds become possible.
Grush: How will students in your course gain confidence in their research skills and in their ability to approach their academic careers and upper-division courses?
Yates: By learning and practicing skills like critical thinking and persuasive communication first in several small assignments, and then in one big assignment. For example, in one of the small assignments, each student researches, prepares, and presents a five-minute talk about an aspect of the metaverse. Their classmates evaluate their delivery, slides, and content, and ask questions. Finally, writing a research paper is the major assignment in this course. I'll let Mark say more about that.
Frydenberg: We set several milestones for students as they work on their research papers: selecting a topic, creating an annotated bibliography, writing an outline, developing a first draft, participating in a peer review with a classmate, and writing the complete paper. These smaller goals make the process of writing a college research paper more manageable for students who have not done so before.
The purpose of this assignment is to give students the skills to formulate and defend their own positions; evaluate others' claims based on facts, research, or personal experience; and to draw logical and informed conclusions.
Our students have chosen a wide range of topics for their research papers. These reflect their diverse interests but are well-grounded in the metaverse theme. Topics include, for example: What is the potential of the metaverse in developing African nations? Can virtual worlds help teens with mental health challenges? What is the impact of purchasing property in the metaverse on individual privacy? Is the metaverse making some jobs obsolete? How does the metaverse impact relationships? What governance is required to keep the metaverse safe? and How can established companies obtain a marketing advantage by moving to the metaverse?
Reading and reviewing each other's papers in progress gives students an opportunity to consider diverse facets of the metaverse and analyze different approaches based on their classmates' interests.
Yates: Also, by thinking about complex issues related to the metaverse, students learn to explore their topics systematically, gathering data or experiences and analyzing them against known results.