Collaboration Across Boundaries (CAB) Model 
The main intent of the Collaborating Across Boundaries (CAB) model is to foster faculty-student collaboration across disciplines, and with community partners, where applicable. The hypothesis of the CAB model is that immersing students in interdisciplinary collaborative courses, where students in these courses work together, and preferably with community partners, to address community-identified issues, will result in deeper learning for all of the students involved.
Academic Year 2020 – 2021: Fall Semester
Sharif Ferdous (Computer Science), CSC 470: Special Topics – 3D Game Development and Yifeng Hu (Communication Studies), COM 487 – Student-Faculty Advanced Research Virtual Reality for Social, Cultural, and Health Issues.
Disclaimer for all videos: Virtual reality projects are best experienced through a head-mounted display (HMD) (e.g., Oculus, Vive).
Project CHANGE: A VR Experience of Teens of Color Living in Urban Communities
This Virtual Reality project is a first-person simulation where the player takes on the perspective of an African-American male teenager living in an urban community. The project aims to create empathy among teachers and police officers who hopefully will better understand the various issues those kids encounter, the stress that they endure, and the decisions that they make.
The ADHD Mind: A VR Experience of Life with ADHD
The single-player educational 3-D Virtual Reality video game presents the player with simple tasks, but simulates the symptoms of ADHD by introducing several distractions. The project teaches the player about the struggle of ADHD, such as being constantly distracted by sounds, visuals, and social environment.
Compassion First: A VR Training for Interacting with Autism
This Virtual Reality training will grant first-responders the ability to learn how to accurately assess a scene, determine if a child is autistic, and communicate effectively with an autistic child. This training is an interactive platform that allows first-responders to safely make and learn from mistakes.
Mind Over Matter: Treating Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in VR
In this Virtual Reality style simulator, players can attend therapy, take an anxiety disorder assessment, and complete therapeutic breathing and meditation exercises.
From the Other Side: A VR Experience of Implicit Biases in Healthcare Professionals
This Virtual Reality project aims to be an interactive experience from the point of view of a woman of color as a patient in a healthcare setting to improve the cultural competency of healthcare professionals.
Academic Year 2019 – 2020: Spring Semester
Glenn Steinberg (English), LIT 340: Bible as Literature and John Leonard (Music), MUS 135/175: College Chorale.
Students from both courses analyzed Arthur Honegger’s King David and conducted research on the play’s background. Their work informed the plans for a final performance, and was the basis for program notes that would be made available to the audience. Safety considerations resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic made a final performance of King David impossible, but below you will find the program and samples of the performance recorded by students remotely.
To propose a course collaboration or for more information, contact Monisha Pulimood at pulimood@tcnj.edu.