{"id":513,"date":"2019-03-28T21:33:25","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T21:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fs-s-wpmu-03.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/?p=513"},"modified":"2019-03-28T21:33:25","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T21:33:25","slug":"learning-in-virtual-reality-phases-of-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/2019\/03\/28\/learning-in-virtual-reality-phases-of-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning in Virtual Reality: Phases of the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Reality as a Teaching Tool for Moon Phases and Beyond<\/a>
\nJ.H. Madden, A. S. Won, J. P. Schuldt, B. Kim, S. Pandita, Y. Sun, T. J. Stone, and N. G. Holmes
\nCornell University
\nhttps:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/1807.11179.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Virtual reality (VR) experiences are increasingly being used not only for casual gaming, but also training
\nand rehabilitation, particularly in medicine and the military. Some say learning in an immersive virtual
\nworld is the future of education. Others are skeptical, wondering about the measurable value in VR-
\nbased learning. Dr. Holmes\u2019 research group at the Cornell Physics Education Research Lab studies
\nintroductory-level physics labs. A recent publication by J. H. Madden from her group investigates the
\nbenefits of using VR to teach about the phases of the Moon.<\/p>\n

Each student began with a pre-test, then was sent along one of three different paths. One third of the
\nstudents worked with a physical model of the Moon, using a flashlight and moon-on-a-stick. The second
\nset of students used a computer-based model of the Sun and Moon, and were able to observe from
\nabove or from in the planets\u2019 plane of motion. The last set of students used an immersive VR model
\ndelivered through a head-mounted virtual reality headset. Here they could observe the Sun, Earth, and
\nMoon from different angles, as for the desktop-computer model. After completing their assigned
\nlearning experience, students wrote a post-test and then explored the other two experiences.<\/p>\n

The student outcomes showed no significant differences between paths; their scores improved from
\n36% to 58% in each case. However, there was a strong preference (78%) for the VR experience over the
\ndesktop-computer model and the physical model, regardless of which the students had initially learned
\nfrom. Students said they liked the different perspectives, the control over the system, and the feeling of
\nengagement that were associated with the VR experience. The students who preferred other systems
\ncited trouble with the sensory input or the controls.<\/p>\n

The authors conclude that there was no measured improvement in the students\u2019 understanding.
\nHowever, they point out that the VR experience offered gains in student engagement at no cost to
\nstudent learning outcomes. This increase in student engagement and motivation is consistent with
\nother literature (Makransky and Lilleholt, 2018; Parong and Mayer, 2018), who further suggest that VR-
\nbased activities can be incorporated into larger learning strategies, which might reduce the cognitive
\nload associated with VR environments and thus translate this improved motivation into better learning
\noutcomes.<\/p>\n

Similar work is being done and collaborated on at the University of Alberta in Rehab Medicine,
\nBiochemistry, and Business applications by the Cognitive Projections AR\/VR lab<\/a>, at
\ncognitiveprojections.ca.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virtual Reality as a Teaching Tool for Moon Phases and Beyond J.H. Madden, A. S. Won, J. P. Schuldt, B. Kim, S. Pandita, Y. Sun, T. J. Stone, and N. G. Holmes Cornell University https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/1807.11179.pdf Virtual reality (VR) experiences are increasingly being used not only for casual gaming, but also training and rehabilitation, particularly in<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-instructional-design","category-learning-and-teaching","category-scholarship-of-teaching-and-learning-sotl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":516,"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca\/scilift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}