SALT LAKE CITY — The Natural History Museum of Utah this month is launching a digital program for middle school students that is every bit as cool as the newest iPhone app, according to museum representatives.

The program, Research Quest, is made of three virtual research expeditions where students use 3-D technology, videos and group collaboration to explain mysteries paleontologists are studying at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry near Price.

Madlyn Runburg, director of educational initiatives at the museum, said the purpose of the program is "gaming for education." She said the museum wanted to use its unique information to teach students how to observe, problem solve, infer, analyze and synthesize.

"(Research Quest) is really not about learning about dinosaurs," Runburg said. "It's about using the excitement and background knowledge students have about dinosaurs to engage them in authentic, meaningful learning experiences."

Seven schools participated in the prototyping phase of Research Quest over the past two years. University of Utah researchers said there was a statistically significant change in students' critical thinking skills after they participated in the program.

In the expeditions, students digitally explore the Cleveland Lloyd bone site to hypothesize what caused the death of the dinosaurs there.

They also observe similarities and differences in fossils and bones to decide which bones belong to which dinosaur and play digital simulation games to create dinosaurs that could survive catastrophes.

Jodi Rees, a teacher who participated in the program last fall, said Research Quest was a great resource for her class because, as a Title 1 school, her students didn't usually have access to interactive activities, which can be expensive. Research Quest is free to participants.

"At first (the students) were skeptical about the program because they didn't like sharing in a group, but it forced them to think and get out of their comfort zones, and they loved it," Rees said. "It gives the kids a chance to have a real-application experience that I, as a teacher, couldn't provide for them."

Rees said when her class was engaged in the program, Research Quest was primarily done using pencil/paper work. She said they used iPads for only a couple of activities. Since then, researchers revised the project, making it almost entirely on the computer, which will give more students access to the program, Runburg said.

"There are a lot of rural schools that get our program when we come to them, but we want them to be able to tap into our programs even when we can't physically be there," Runburg said.

The museum is currently asking middle school teachers in the Jordan, Granite, Davis and Weber school districts to participate in the October program session. Interested teachers can email Runburg at mrunburg@nhmu.utah.edu. If all goes as planned, the museum will offer the program to teachers statewide in February 2016.

Museum representatives are presenting Research Quest at the Society of Vertebrae Paleontology Conference in Dallas this week. Representatives also presented it at the Foundations of Digital Games Conference in Pacific Grove, California, and at the NMC Summer Conference in Washington, D.C., where it won "Best of Media."

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Tori Jorgensen is a Deseret News intern and current communications major at Southern Utah University. Find her on Twitter @TORIAjorgensen. Email: vjorgensen@deseretnews.com.

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