**5. Engineering calculus successes at TAMU Qatar**

Since Qatari students are approximately the same age as United States students and are exposed to very similar mathematics curriculum, it is expected that similar interventions are needed to address the needs of students who wish to major in STEM fields at Texas A&M University at Qatar.

A pilot study conducted by the author at Texas A&M University at Qatar revealed that students were very productive and engaged in the learning experience and the average student's attendance during any session is 98% of the time. Moreover a subculture difference has no appearance in the virtual world for exploring cultural alternatives. Jones (Jones, 2009; Jones, S. L. 2009) also noted that the collaborative aspect available in Second Life does not exist in any other online platforms.

As was seen in the literature background, this is an important feature. Jones also found that the average of student group project grades was seven percentage points higher than that of students who did not use Second Life (from 72% to 79%). A snapshot of a class in Second Life at TAMU Qatar is shown (see figure 2).
