Quest Atlantis

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Quest Atlantis (QA) was a 3D multiuser, computer graphics program that utilized a narrative programming toolkit to teach inquiry tasks. It was targeted toward children ages nine to sixteen. It allowed users to travel to virtual places to perform educational activities (Quests), talk with other users and mentors, and build virtual personae. The project was intended to engage children ages 9–16 in a form of transformational play^[1] comprising both online and offline learning activities.

The principal investigator was Sasha Barab, Associate Professor in Learning Sciences, now at Arizona State University. Other faculty members who played prominent roles in the project included Dan Hickey at Indiana University-Bloomington and Melissa Gresalfi at Vanderbilt University.

The game was redesigned in 2012 with the help of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and re-released as Atlantis Remixed.

• Active Worlds
• Simulated reality

• Siyahhan, S., Barab, S. A., & James, C. (in press). Youth and the ethics of identity play in virtual spaces. To appear in the Interactive Journal of Learning Research.
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• Barab, S.A., Dodge, T., Ingram-Goble, A., Peppler, K., Pettyjohn, P., Volk, C.,& Solomou, M. (2010). Pedagogical dramas and transformational play: Narratively-rich games for learning. Mind, Culture, and Activity 17(3): 235–264.
• Barab, S.A., Gresalfi, M.S., Dodge, T., & Ingram-Goble, A. (2010). Narratizing Disciplines and Disciplinizing Narratives: Games as 21st Century Curriculum. International Journal for Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations, 2(1). 17-30.
• Barab, S. A., Gresalfi, M., & Arici, A. (2009). Why educators should care about games. Educational Leadership 67(1), pp. 76-80. Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
• [http://inkido.indiana.edu/research/onlinemanu/papers/critical_design.pdf Our Designs and the Social

Agendas They Carry] Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine

• Warren, S., Stein, R. A., Dondlinger, M. J., & Barab, S. A. (2009). A look inside a MUVE design process: Blending instructional design and game principles to target writing skills. Journal of Educational Computing Research,40(3), 295-321.
• Barab, S. A., Scott, B., Siyahhan, S. Goldstone, R., Ingram-Goble, A., Zuiker, S., & Warren, S. (2009). Conceptual play as a curricular scaffold: Using videogames to support science education. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18(1), 305-320.^{[permanent dead link]}
• Thomas, M., K., Barab, S. A., & Tuzun, H. (2009). Developing critical implementations of technology-rich innovations: A cross-case study of the implementation of Quest Atlantis. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 41(2), 125-153.
• Hickey, D., Ingram-Goble, A., & Jameson, E. (2009). Designing Assessments and Assessing Designs in Virtual Educational Environments Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18, 187-208.
• Dodge, T., Barab, S., Stuckey, B., Warren, S., Heiselt, C., & Stein, R. (2008). Children’s sense of self: Learning and meaning in the digital age^{[permanent dead link]}. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 19(2), 225–249..
• Barab, S., Warren, S., & Ingram-Goble, A. (2008). Conceptual play spaces^{[permanent dead link]}. In R. Ferdig (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education (pp. 1–20). Hershey, Pennsylvania: IGI Global publications.
• Barab, S., Dodge, T., Tuzun, H., Job-Sluder, K., Jackson, C., Arici, A., Job-Sluder, L., Carteaux, R., Jr., Gilbertson, J., & Heiselt, C. (2007). The Quest Atlantis Project: A socially-responsive play space for learning^{[permanent dead link]}. In B. E. Shelton & D. Wiley (Eds.), The Educational Design and Use of Simulation Computer Games (pp. 159–186). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
• Warren, S., Barab, S. A., & Dondlinger, M. J. (2008). A MUVE Towards PBL Writing: Effects of a digital learning environment designed to improve elementary student writing Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine. Journal of Research on Technology in Education,41(1), 121-147.
• Barab, S. A., Dodge, T., Thomas, M, Jackson, C., & Tuzun, H. (2007). Our designs and the social agendas they carry Archived 2007-06-28 at the Wayback Machine. Journal of the Learning Sciences,16(2), 263-305.
• Barab, S. A., Zuiker, S., Warren, S., Hickey, D., Ingram-Goble, A., Kwon, E-J., Kouper, I., & Herring, S. C. (2007). Situationally embodied curriculum: Relating formalisms to contexts Archived 2007-06-28 at the Wayback Machine. Science Education, 91(5), 750-592.
• Barab, S. A., Sadler, T., Heiselt, C., Hickey, D., & Zuiker, S. (2007). Relating narrative, inquiry, and inscriptions: A framework for socio-scientific inquiry Archived 2007-06-28 at the Wayback Machine. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 16(1), 59-82.
• Barab, S, A., & Dede, C. (2007). Games and immersive participatory simulations for science education: An emerging type of curricula. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 16(1), 1-3.
• Barab, S. A. (2006). A methodological toolkit for the learning sciences Archived 2010-06-20 at the Wayback Machine. In K. Sawyer (ed.) Handbook of the Learning Sciences (pp. 153–170), Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Sadler, T.D., Barab, S.A., & Scott, B. (2006). What do students gain by engaging in socioscientific inquiry?^{[permanent dead link]} Research in Science Education.
• Barab, S. A., Jackson, C., & Piekarsky, E. (2006). Embedded professional development: Learning through enacting innovation. In C. Dede (Ed.), Online professional development for teachers: Emerging models & methods (pp. 155–174). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Press.
• Barab, S. & Jackson, C. (2006, January 20). From Plato’s Republic to Quest Atlantis: The role of the philosopher-king. THEN: Journal (Technology, Humanities, Education, Narrative), 2 Article 2. Retrieve from THEN.
• Lim, C., Nonis, D., & Hedberg, J. (2006). Gaming in a 3D multiuser virtual environment: Engaging students in science lessons. British Journal of Educational Technology, 37(2), 211-231.
• Tuzun, H. (2006). Egitsel bilgisayar oyunlari ve bir örnek: Quest Atlantis (Educational computer games and a case: Quest Atlantis) Archived 2007-06-28 at the Wayback Machine.Hacettepe Universitesi Egitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 30, 220-229.
• Young, M. F., Schrader, P. G., & Zheng, D. (2006, April 1). MMOGs as learning environments: An ecological journey into Quest Atlantis and Sims Online. Innovate: Journal of Online Education, 2(4).
• Barab, S. A., Arici, A., & Jackson, C. (2005). Eat your vegetables and do your homework: A design-based investigation of enjoyment and meaning in learning^{[permanent dead link]}. Educational Technology 45(1), 15-21.
• Barab, S., Thomas, M., Dodge, T., Carteaux, R., & Tuzun, H. (2005). Making learning fun: Quest Atlantis, a game without guns. Archived 2007-06-28 at the Wayback Machine Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(1), 86-107.
• Barab, S. A., Thomas, M., Dodge, T., Squire, K., & Newell, M. (2004). Critical design ethnography: Designing for change Archived 2009-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 35(2), 254-268.
• Borner, K., & Penumarthy, S. (2003). Social diffusion patterns in three-dimensional virtual worlds. Information Visualization, 2003(2),
• Li, H., (2010). Applicable science and technology in three-dimensional, and phantasmagorical and illusional worlds, Science and Aerospace 182-198.

• Quest Atlantis Archived 2008-11-18 at the Wayback Machine
• Atlantis Remixed^{[permanent dead link]}