6 research outputs found
A multi-user virtual environment to support students’ self-efficacy and interest in science: A latent growth model analysis
Using latent growth models, we explored: (a) The effect of middle school students’ (n=189) preintervention science self-efficacy and science interest on their initial interest in an Ecosystems Multi-User Virtual Environment (EcoMUVE) and the rate of change in their interest in EcoMUVE; and (b) the mediating effect of students’ initial interest in EcoMUVE and rate of change in interest on students’ post-intervention science self-efficacy and interest in science. Results showed that: (1) students’ pre-intervention self-efficacy for science had an effect both on students’ triggered situational interest for EcoMUVE and on students’ maintained situational interest for EcoMUVE; (2) both triggering and maintaining situational interest in EcoMUVE were important in developing students’ science self-efficacy. In fact, maintained situational interest was the stronger predictor; and (3) maintained situational interest for EcoMUVE translated into individual interest for the science content. Results support and extend social cognitive theory as well as models of interest development
Recommended from our members
EcoMOBILE: Integrating augmented reality and probeware with environmental education field trips
Positioned in the context of situated learning theory, the EcoMOBILE project combines an augmented reality (AR) experience with use of environmental probeware during a field trip to a local pond environment. Activities combining these two technologies were designed to address ecosystem science learning goals for middle school students, and aid in their understanding and interpretation of water quality measurements. The intervention was conducted with five classes of sixth graders from a northeastern school district as a pilot study for the larger EcoMOBILE project, and included pre-field trip training, a field trip to a local pond environment, and post-field trip discussions in the classroom.
During the field experience, students used mobile wireless devices with FreshAiR™, an augmented reality application, to navigate the pond environment and to observe virtual media and information overlaid on the physical pond. This AR experience was combined with probeware, in that students collected water quality measurements at designated AR hotspots during the experience. We studied the characteristics of learning and instruction using measures of student attitudes, content learning gains, and opinions teachers provided via written and verbal feedback. We observed gains in student affective measures and content understanding following the intervention. Teachers reported that the combined technologies promoted student interaction with the pond and with classmates in a format that was student-centered rather than teacher-directed. Teachers also reported that students demonstrated deeper understanding of the principles of water quality measurement than was typical on prior field trips without these technologies and that students had expanded opportunities to engage in activities that resemble scientific practice. Overall, results of the students' surveys and teacher feedback suggest that there are multiple benefits to using this suite of technologies for teaching and for learning
Recommended from our members
Turning Transfer Inside Out: The Affordances of Virtual Worlds and Mobile Devices in Real World Contexts for Teaching About Causality Across Time and Distance in Ecosystems
Reasoning about ecosystems includes consideration of causality over temporal and spatial distances; yet learners typically focus on immediate time frames and local contexts. Teaching students to reason beyond these boundaries has met with some success based upon tests that cue students to the types of reasoning required. Virtual worlds offer an opportunity to assess what students actually do in a simulated context. Beyond this, mobile devices make it possible to scaffold and assess learning in the real world. Situating learning outside, in the target contexts, bypasses many of the challenges of transfer. A study investigated the learning of fifth and sixth graders (n = 38) while they used a virtual world called EcoMUVE, designed to support learning of ecosystems concepts and complex causal dynamics, and mobile broadband device (MBDs) components, designed to assess and support learning and transfer in a real pond ecosystem. The experiences of two classes were contrasted as reference populations; one class participated in the MBD experience first, followed by the learning components in EcoMUVE; the other participated in EcoMUVE first, followed by the MBD components. Rich and triangulated data was collected to illuminate how students experienced and responded to the curriculum components. Both classes made learning gains in EcoMUVE. Students who completed EcoMUVE prior to their MBD experience transferred concepts to their pond explorations. Both classes made learning gains at the pond following the MBD support and revealed more expert reasoning about the importance of change over time and distant drivers in ecosystem dynamics
Recommended from our members
A multi-user virtual environment to support students' self-efficacy and interest in science: A latent growth model analysis
Using latent growth models, we explored: (a) The effect of middle school students' (n = 189) pre-intervention science self-efficacy and science interest on their initial interest in an Ecosystems Multi-User Virtual Environment (EcoMUVE) and the rate of change in their interest in EcoMUVE; and (b) the mediating effect of students' initial interest in EcoMUVE and rate of change in interest on students' post-intervention science self-efficacy and interest in science. Results showed that: (1) students' pre-intervention self-efficacy for science had an effect both on students' triggered situational interest for EcoMUVE and on students' maintained situational interest for EcoMUVE; (2) both triggering and maintaining situational interest in EcoMUVE were important in developing students' science self-efficacy. In fact, maintained situational interest was the stronger predictor; and (3) maintained situational interest for EcoMUVE translated into individual interest for the science content. Results support and extend social cognitive theory as well as models of interest development