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University Of Illinois Researcher Using Minecraft To Help Students Study Space

ORONO, Maine (AP) -- A team with researchers in Maine and Illinois is working on a project to use the video game Minecraft to get students interested in science and space.

The project is led by University of Illinois educational psychology professor H. Chad Lane, and University of Maine astrophysicist Neil F. Comins is a collaborator. UMaine says the team will facilitate the ability of children to ask questions about space using Minecraft as a platform.

Educational Psychology professor H. Chad Lane and his team of researchers believe that the future of humanity rests in...

Posted by Education at Illinois on Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The project has received a $2.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation. UMaine says children will be able to ask "space-related what-if questions to explore hypothetical exoplanets and see how their worlds differ from Earth."

Comins and UMaine graduate student Zach Smith are developing conditions for "alternative Earths" that will be a part of the project.

(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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