The Effects of Spatial Presence on Learning Outcomes in Virtual Learning Environments

Nancy Wood, Doctoral Student

Department of Educational Psychology

College of Education and Human Development

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX   77843-4225

e-mail: nancy-wood@sbcglobal.net

Lauren Cifuentes, PhD, Associate Professor

Department of Educational Psychology

College of Education and Human Development

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX   77843-4225

Abstract

Virtual worlds like Second Life hold complex possibilities for creating instructional messages. Mayer’s multimedia learning theory (2001), and Spiro’s 1995 cognitive flexibility theory frame my proposal to compare learning outcomes achieved by students who use a VR tutorial with outcomes achieved by students who use a paper based version.

In virtual reality, spatial presence is the sense of “being there” accomplished through graphics and interactivity. Interactivity is important in helping users build mental models and connect them to existing knowledge. My proposed research will study the effects of spatial presence in virtual reality on retention and transfer of learning.

The Effects of Spatial Presence on Learning Outcomes in Virtual Reality

Summary of Research in Progress

Statement of the Problem

Recently, web based 3-D virtual worlds have been developed that can be accessed and edited from anywhere using ordinary desktop computers. Virtual worlds create new and complex possibilities for creating instructional messages. Second Life is one of the better known virtual worlds being used by educators. Dozens of colleges and universities have established presences in Second Life. These include virtual campuses and classrooms, simulations, tutorials, exhibits, quizzes, games, collaborative projects and faculty offices.

With the introduction of new technologies, comes the need for research into how to use them effectively in education. Second Life has a unique array of affordances and opportunities for interactivity allow a much wider range of user and program controls than other forms of multimedia. In Second Life, the user can inspect virtual objects from many angles, create, interact with or edit objects, experience video and audio, receive text messages, and interact with other users in real time. Pedagogical and design frameworks for use of this medium in formal education have not yet emerged.

Most educational programs in virtual worlds are designed around constructivist learning theories. That is, that deep learning is achieved through active student involvement in the learning process. Mayer’s multimedia learning theory (2001) and Spiro’s 1995 cognitive flexibility theory are two approaches to constructivist learning that are applicable to learning in virtual worlds. Spiro’s theory offers a set of principal recommendations for the development of instructional hypertext programs to promote successful learning of difficult subject matter. Mayer’s theory is based upon dozens of empirical studies measuring the effectiveness of various multimedia affordances on retention and transfer of learning. These affordances include text, audio, animation, interactivity and time. Virtual worlds have an additional affordance that the literature calls “presence”. Presence is the users’ feeling of “being there”. The purpose of my research is to determine the effects of spatial presence, the sense of being there accomplished through graphics and interactivity; on retention and transfer of learning.

Significance of the study

Presence is important in virtual worlds to accomplish learning goals (Jacobson, 2001) and is reported to have positive effects on students’ perceptions of the course communications and relevance. The interactive element of spatial presence is important in helping users build mental models and connect them to existing knowledge. Chittaro and Ranon’s 2007 survey of virtual learning environments found that some of the most successful programs allowed users to study subject matter from multiple viewpoints.

Cognitive flexibility theory states that learners assemble existing knowledge flexibly to fit the needs of a new problem (Spiro et al., 1995). Virtual reality is ideally suited for promoting cognitive flexibility because of its flexible affordances for multiple simultaneous representations of content. Do the flexible affordances that create a sense of spatial presence also help the learner assemble knowledge flexibly to learn to solve ill-structured problems? Some researchers have noted increased abstract thinking and innovative problem-solving skills in learners who used virtual learning programs. Literature supporting this view will be discussed in my presentation.

Description of the proposed methods and procedures

My research project will compare learning outcomes achieved by students who use a virtual reality tutorial in Second Life with the learning outcomes achieved by students who use a paper based version of the same tutorial. In response to the need for instructional designers and educators who can generate unified instructional messages, I (with my advisor Dr. Lauren Cifuentes) am designing and developing an environment in Second Life for teaching graphic principles of unity, contrast, and emphasis for instructional message design, and the corresponding paper version. We call the tutorial “Unity, Contrast, and Emphasis”. The module will be used to teach basic concepts of visual design such as unity, emphasis, and balance to college level students.

The research will use mixed methods of analysis, including empirical analysis of scores on pre-treatment and post treatment designs created by the participants, and a descriptive analysis summarizing the graders’ comments on the participants’ designs. The graders will not know which group’s designs they are evaluating, paper or virtual reality.

Students will create instructional graphic messages before, during and after completing the tutorial. Design assignments will be similar to those used in existing face to face or web based courses. The learners will complete 7 hands-on visual design assignments during the course of the lesson. Their designs will be scored by two or three college professors who typically evaluate these types of designs in classes that they teach. Numerical scores will be assigned based on how well the designs meet specific criteria. For example the criteria “contrast is used to create emphasis that hierarchically directs the viewer to the important parts of the message” might earn up to 30 points on a 100 point scale. Graders’ will summarize the effectiveness of the design and areas needing improvement in written comments. These subjective comments on the designs will be analyzed qualitatively.

References

Chittaro, L. and R. Ranon (2007). Web3D technologies in learning, education and training: Motivations, issues, opportunities: Computers & Education. Vol 49(1), Aug 2007

Jacobson, D. (2001). Presence revisited: Imagination, competence, and activity in text-based virtual worlds: Cyber Psychology & Behavior. Vol 4(6), Dec 2001,

Mayer, R. M. (2001). Multimedia Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Spiro, R.J. Feltovich, P.J., Jacobson, M.J., & Coulson, R.L. (1995). Cognitive flexibility, constructivism, and hypertext: Random access instruction for advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-structured domains. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.