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| Source: Google |
A study conducted
by Roxana Moreno of the University of New Mexico and Richard Mayer of
the University of California, Santa Barbara dives into the educational benefits
of virtual reality in multimedia environments using an educational game
developed called Design-A-Plant. The
study “Learning Science in Virtual Reality Multimedia Environments: Role of
Methods and Media” is conducted to measure the effect that virtual reality has
on student’s educational comprehension and retention.
The experiment concludes that students scored higher
on retention, transfer, and program ratings with narration multimedia
environments than with text multimedia environments. The test group with narration
and text multimedia environments had results in between narration and text.
Overall, media did not affect performance in the categories of retention,
transfer, or program ratings.
Moreno and Mayer conducted the experiment in two separate
test groups. Both experiments took eighty-nine college students which they asked
multiple questions about botany to assess knowledge on the subject. The participants
were split into groups ND (Narration/ Desktop Display), TD (Text/Desktop
Display), NS (Narration/Sitting with Head Mounted Display), TS (Text/Sitting
with HMD), NW (Narration/Walking with HMD), and TW (Text/Walking with HMD). Each
group whether using desktop display or HMDs were interacting with the same
computerized material. TD, TS, and TW were specifically given material with
text only. Each experimental group was asked several questions about plants in
different environments and to move around within the multimedia environment
which they were in. HMD groups were instructed how to use their technology and
to do so walking to navigate, or head movements while sitting. After students
navigated through five different environments (such as rain forest, dry environment,
and etc.) they were then instructed to complete a series of questionnaires.
These questionnaires were in regards to presence, program-rating, retention,
and problem-solving. The results to the questionnaires,
among other things, show that the students scored the highest on retention with
narration integrated within their multimedia environment.
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| Source: Christian Pierce |
Virtual reality environments not only where seen as
more favorable but they also help students remember more of the material, and
this is especially true for VREs that communicate using narration over text.
Moreno and Mayer’s virtual reality experiment shows
the impact that VREs can have over textbooks and other forms of just text based
educational tools. Virtual reality tools are necessary for educational advancement
within the technology world today and in the future.
Christian,
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I noticed when opening your article was the picture. I think it is well placed and a very appropriate picture for capturing the audience's attention. I'm not sure "google" is exactly an appropriate source citing but at least you cited it.
Your explanatory headline, in this case, may have been too explanatory. I thought that the information before the comma was probably enough to capture a reader's attention and inform them a little bit about the study. Adding in the extra thought at the end, in my opinion, made the headline too long and difficult to understand at first glance.
A positive is that I think you did a great job going into detail in explaining the study itself. Listing off the different categories that participants were split into may have seemed tedious and long but I think it was necessary for your readers to understand the study itself and especially the graph that you added later in your article. The only thing I think you could've done differently in your explanation was explain the test itself a bit more. Since ultimately the questionnaire at the end of the experiment is the most important part in terms of taking away, I think you could've possibly provided an example of a question or simply explained a little bit further than just listing the types of questions.
Your graph definitely met all the criteria for an effective graphic. The categories are listed at the bottom of each bar and their values on the scale are right at the top of the bar. I think these two things help the graph's effectiveness a lot. The only thing I a concerned about with your graph is that with the scale you chose the bars don't actually look like they differ enough for the statistics to be significant. Choosing a scale of maybe 10-16 would've really highlighted the differences in scores between categories. I also don't know what those 0-16 numbers mean; units on the scale of the graph would've been helpful.
The study you chose to write about is very interesting to me. Especially when i look at the image of the person with the head gear I really get to thinking if virtual reality could be the future of education. I'd be interested to see what kind of other studies have been done on this subject, and if virtual teaching tools such as the ones if this specific study have been fully implemented anywhere in the world.
Overall I think you brought up a great point and explained the study well. It was definitely an intriguing article to read and think about.
Christian,
ReplyDeleteI think that your ePortfolio was very interesting! It also led me to think if the reason why the findings of the study were more in favor of the HMD’s virtual reality because it is easier to learn with hand on experience? The HMD’s provided the students with the hands-on environment that a lot of classrooms and teachers alone can’t provide. I wonder however if you think that because of the findings and because of information technology on a steady climb, if HMD’s will have a presence in schools? I can imagine some classes moving towards this, like a plant science class where being in the plant’s environment and seeing it for yourself is more beneficial than reading about it through a text display. And stating that last question makes me also think about if the reason behind those findings was because the students were learning something that would be easier to learn with a more real life situation setting that the HMD’s gave them. For example, I think that if the students were learning another subject like math, then the HMD’s wouldn’t have been as favorable for learning and retention because you don’t need to be in another environment per say to learn the concepts. I would like to see this type of study done again across many different subjects in order for there to be more conclusive evidence towards learning and retention for many different subjects.
I also liked the way that you presented the information to us. I appreciated the picture of the HMD because otherwise I am not so sure that I would have known what it was. This is great because we are trying to get across to the general public. It was also great that you talked about what each of the different acronyms means because it made it a lot easier to see the study through your words if that makes sense. Your paragraphs were good sizes and it kept my attention throughout.
Personally I do not think that you gave enough Information nor enough detail for me to be able to extend this conversation further. I didn't even know what HMD stood for until one of the final paragraphs. You seemed to contradict yourself when you said that media did not have a direct effect on performance in retention, transfer, or program ratings. Later on you said that not only were virtual reality environments seen as more favorable but that they also help students remember more of the material.
ReplyDeleteYou had so much to talk about that it seemed like you were rushing it that you said a lot of things with out informing or acknowledging them to your audience. For example, when all the test subjects were handed questionnaires what were they asked, why were they put into situations of climate control. Why were the results found as they were? How did Roxana Moreno and Richard Mayer discover what the reason behind the results were? You can’t just suddenly have an outcome without having gone through certain steps to get there.
You’re pictures were placed nicely, outside of leaving out key information your writing did follow an order. The link to the study is there which makes it accessible and is somewhere I can go for more answers that I’m looking for.
Overall you did a solid job. There’s no doubt in my mind that you need to explain HMD’s and VRE’s. A further explanation for the groups and how they were able to try and retain information as best as possible. You sort of skipped the middle bulk of information in order to try and fit everything in. So for future posting on your ePortfolio I’d suggest picking out key information from the study and clarifying their role so that your explanation of what you read is clear.