An examination of 3D virtual worlds, design issues, and motivational theory

Karakus Yilmaz, Turkan/0000-0002-5809-3962;WOS: 000420771300003The purpose of this study is to assess the motivational qualities of specific design elements in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual winter sports learning environment comprised of an Information House, Practice Area, and Exercise Area by considering two motivational models. the study employed causal comparative research methods. Participants included 150 fifth, sixth, and seventh grade middle school students. A motivation survey developed by the researchers served as the data collection tool; data were analyzed with descriptive and predictive methods. Data analysis revealed that the animations in the Practice Area of the 3D virtual environment drew the most attention when compared to the other design elements. Elements in the Exercise Area encouraged students to conduct more research, and elements in the Information House were efficient at increasing students' satisfaction. in addition, design elements such as animations, images, display boards, and videos helped students to learn individually and provided opportunities to practice within a 3D virtual environment

Information retention's relationships with flow, presence and engagement in guided 3D virtual environments

Karakus Yilmaz, Turkan/0000-0002-5809-3962WOS: 000435954100012The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation of different variables with information retention in guided 3D virtual learning environments by employing three experimental designs. in each experiments, different participants were included in the same population and different variables were considered. Information retention test, flow, presence, engagement scales were used as data collection tools. Namely measures of flow, presence and engagement were examined to see their correlation with retention in experiment 1, 2 and 3. As a result, not the total score of flow but focused attention, enjoyment and skill dimensions has a weak but significant correlation with information retention, while the challenge has a moderate and significant negative correlation. in the second experiment, retention had a significant, low-level relationship with teaching presence and cognitive presence, but it did not have a similar relationship with social presence. in the third experiment, information retention significantly correlated with affective and cognitive engagement, but not with behavioral engagement. Although the three studies' participants were from the same population, It was seen that the differences in the level of relationship between information retention and the variables studied in each study. Nevertheless, it was found that the levels of flow, presence and engagement of students are important for information retention in a guided 3D virtual learning environment. the study is thought to guide researchers to design 3D virtual learning environments for different purposes, considering these variables.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey ProjectTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [111 K516]This study was conducted as part of the "Effects of Virtual and Multimedia Environments on Interest and Awareness Towards Winter Sports" project (number "111 K516"), supported by the the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey Project

From Clouds Of Gas And Dust To 3d Virtual Learning Environment

Üç boyutlu sanal dünyalar öğrenme ortamları olarak kullanıcılarına yeni ufuklar kazandırmaktadırlar. Bununla birlikte, üç boyutlu öğrenme ortamlarının belirlenen hedeflere ulaşılmasında etkili olabilmeleri için dikkatli bir şekilde geliştirilmeleri gerekmektedir. Bu çalışmada Second Life’ta kış sporları teması altında bir öğrenme ortamının analiz, tasarım, geliştirme, uygulama ve değerlendirme süreci ayrıntılı olarak anlatılmaktadır. Analiz, tasarım, geliştirme ve uygulama aşamalarında dikkat edilmesi gereken unsurlardan bahsedilmektedir. Çalışmada, 3B sanal dünyalarda etkili bir öğrenme ortamı tasarımı sırasında kaçınılması gereken önemli faktörler tartıştıldığı için gelecek tasarımcılara rehber olması beklenmektedir.Three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds represent a new horizon when used as learning environments. However, three-dimensional learning environments need to be carefully developed in order to be effective achieving the specified goals. In this study, the analysis, design, development, imlementation and evaluation process to create a learning environment in the form of an island with the theme of winter sports within Second Life (a virtual world) is described in detail. Steps to be noted in the analysis, design, development and implemetation phases are mentioned. We expect that this study will be helpful to future designers, as we discuss several crucial factors to consider and pitfalls to avoid during the design of an effective learning environments in this 3D virtual world