In this paper, we explore how the application of multimedia design principles may inform the development of educational multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). We look at design principles that have been shown to help learners manage cognitive load within multimedia environments and conduct a conjectural analysis of the extent to which such principles can help manage cognitive load in the highly immersive ''beyond multimedia'' environments that 3-D educational MUVEs represent. We frame our discussion as a design practice analysis of the River City MUVE, a science inquiry environment that has middle school students collaborating to develop and test hypotheses regarding illnesses sweeping a virtual town. We analyze the current River City interface design using a framework describing cognitive overload scenarios and associated approaches to manage cognitive load. We also discuss the potential difficulties that may be seen as multimedia principles are applied to 3-D MUVEs. Our discussion describes a blueprint for research implementations that we are undertaking to systematically investigate the effect of an educational MUVE interface design based on multimedia principles-implementations that we hope will provide an action framework for other MUVE researchers to use in their own studies.

In this paper, we take a designer's look at how the activities and data of learning and assessment can be structured in immersive virtual game environments called Massively Multi-Player Online Games (MMOG). In doing so, we examine the channels of evidence through which learning and assessment activities are derived in MMOGs, offering examples of how multiple evidence channels in operation through game-based activities can be utilised to construct rich data trails for assessment.

Educational multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) have been shown to be effective platforms for situated science inquiry curricula. While researchers find MUVEs to be supportive of collaborative scientific inquiry processes, the complex mix of multi-modal messages present in MUVEs can lead to cognitive overload, with learners unable to effectively process the rich information encountered in virtual space. In this study, we investigated the effect of communication modality on cognitive load and science inquiry learning in students completing a science inquiry curriculum in an educational MUVE. Seventy-eight undergraduate education majors from a large southwestern university participated in this control-treatment study. Significant positive results were found for reducing cognitive load for participants communicating through voice-based chat, although this reduction was not found to influence learning outcomes. We conclude that use of voice-based communication can successfully reduce cognitive load in MUVE-based inquiry curricula.Keywords Virtual environments Á Cognitive load Á Collaboration Á Modality Á VoIP One alternative to classroom-based inquiry that has arisen in recent years is curricula embedded within computer-based educational multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). MUVEs have emerged as a fertile platform for situated inquiry learning environments, especially concerning science inquiry learning processes (Barab et al. 2005;Nelson et al. 2005;Nelson 2007). Briefly, educational MUVEs are three-dimensional (3-D) virtual worlds that afford learners interaction with other humans and software-based agents, both represented through characters called avatars, as part of an open-ended exploratory environment. In these environments, learners can interact with various situated objects (including images, sounds, and other multimedia content) while communicating and collaborating with other learners to investigate scenarios and solve problems of varying complexity (Nelson and Ketelhut 2007).de Jong (2006) notes that one of the biggest challenges for supporting inquiry learning with technology is the seamless integration of collaborative learning and inquiry learning. Another challenge, cited by Kirschner et al. (2006), is that guided inquiry in technologybased environments is more powerful than wholly open-ended exploration. Both of these challenges for science inquiry learning-appropriately guided inquiry learning and integration of collaboration and inquiry learning-are being addressed by researchers implementing MUVEs (e.g., Bers 1999;Corbit 2002;Slator et al. 2004;Dede et al. 2002). In an even broader sense, research in this area is part of a rapidly expanding focus on the use of educational gaming environments for learning (Gee 2003). MUVEs as situated inquiry environmentsSadler et al. (2007) have outlined the need for emphasis upon socioscientific inquiry, or an approach to scientific inquiry learning that includes social and emotional constructs in addition to the typical cognitive skills involved with the...

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