Digital, material and networked: some emerging themes for SET education

Boundaries between the digital and material worlds are becoming blurred as the internet increasingly connects us to things as well as people and information. This is increasingly relevant to education as initiatives which significantly combine digital and material elements in networks are becoming a reality for Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) learning. Our paper reports on the initial findings of a project to carry out a ‘state of the art’ review of literature to establish the key themes, opportunities and obstacles that are emerging from the development and use of these ‘hybrid’ systems in learning. We wanted to explore the extent to which this new domain of study is being reported in the literature and to identify work representative of this area. Our aim was to investigate the depth of research in this area by going beyond the technologically descriptive to focus on pedagogical and organisational issues raised in the literature. To identify the state of current research in the area we carried out a systematic search of databases of Science, Engineering and Technology education literature. We found 808 papers relating to the hybrid learning initiatives we are interested in, of which the majority, 81%, involved the Engineering and Technology disciplines while 6.8% related to Science. The vast majority of papers referred to remote laboratories and most of these were concerned with describing the technologies involved. In order to explore issues emerging from the research, we carried out an in-depth text review of a particular subset of the papers found that focussed on pedagogical issues. The three main themes that emerged were: the importance of real data and authenticity in learning; the importance of a sense of presence (e.g. telepresence, social presence and/or immersion) and the locus of control in, and responsiveness of, a hybrid system. We conclude that these new digital ‘hybrid’ pedagogies offer a lens with which to view both the more traditional material pedagogies, e.g. laboratory-based learning, and purely digital pedagogies, e.g. virtual labs. Finally, issues of authenticity, presence and control/responsiveness will be of increasing pedagogical importance to other ‘hybrid’ systems, such as those involving ubiquitous computing

Enabling live dialogic and collaborative learning between field and indoor contexts

This paper explores how field and indoor based students can be connected so that their contrasting circumstances and capabilities are used as a basis for learning. We describe the design of the ‘Out There and In Here’ system and activity. Using naturalistic evaluations in the context of higher education earth science, we find evidence that this approach can be beneficial in developing essential skills, by supporting dialogue and collaboration across diverse contexts. This provokes novel forms of reflection and motivation, and could inspire a new generation of learning tools combining mobile and collaborative technologies. We discuss important issues in this design space, such as asymmetrical dependencies and structures for dialogic and collaborative learning

3D virtual geology field trips: opportunities and limitations

As a part of The OpenScience Laboratory (http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/open-science/), we have developed a virtual Geology field trip in a three-dimensional (3D) environment (https://learn5.open.ac.uk/course/format/sciencelab/section.php?name=skiddaw_1), using the Unity 3D software (https://unity3d.com/). The learning activities within this 3D application are designed to mirror the experience of a field trip in the Skiddaw mountains of UK’s Lake District. The primary objective of developing an authentic 3D avatar-based interactive environment has been to provide an immersive experience to the users through sense of space. The application is based around a 10km x 10km low to medium detail model of the terrain around Skiddaw with overlaid photogrammetry-derived mesh and textual imagery, and augmented with in-built Unity terrain and flora. The virtual embodiment in the form of avatars and the multi-user environment give a sense of co-presence and provides opportunities for collaborative learning. In this presentation, we will reflect on the design and development process of the 3D App: how the pedagogical aspects of Geology and fieldwork were integrated with the affordances of 3D environments and the capabilities of Unity 3D, the development platform. We will discuss the interaction design of the 3D App including its navigation and wayfinding aspects that provide a sense of presence, sense of place, and an immersive learning experience for the students. We will analyse the pedagogical design of the 3D App to highlight the spatial and contextual learning opportunities for the students. With this Virtual Skiddaw App as an example, we will reflect on the following: a) opportunities offered by 3D virtual field trips for science education in both schools and higher education; b) comparisons (advantages and obstacles) of the 3D experience with 2D field trips (for example, via the websites or DVDs) – for example, the real-time multi-user interactions offered by a 3D environment and their impact on learning and student engagement; and c) limitations of 3D virtual field trips with respect to real world field trips

Late Holocene climate reorganisation and the North American Monsoon

The North America Monsoon (NAM) provides the majority of rainfall for central and northern Mexico as well as parts of the south west USA. The controls over the strength of the NAM in a given year are complex, and include both Pacific and Atlantic systems. We present here an annually resolved proxy reconstruction of NAM rainfall variability over the last ~6ka, from an inwash record from the Laguna de Juanacatlán, Mexico. This high resolution, exceptionally well dated record allows changes in the NAM through the latter half of the Holocene to be investigated in both time and space domains, improving our understanding of the controls on the system. Our analysis shows a shift in conditions between c. 4 and 3 ka BP, after which clear ENSO/PDO type forcing patterns are evident

The value of 'dialogue events' as sites of learning: an exploration of research & evaluation frameworks

In this article, we draw from our experiences as UK and US-based 'dialogue event' practitioners and researchers/ evaluators to suggest that these existing evaluative criteria are insufficient to explore the role and value of ISI-based 'dialogue events'. Instead, we suggest that it may be productive to research and evaluate these ISI-based 'dialogue events' as sites of learning. Secondly, however, we show through a discussion of our own research frameworks that understanding these 'dialogue events' as sites of learning does not intuitively provide a framework for understanding what counts as success for these efforts. Instead, research on the role of 'dialogue' within the educational literature – and the connections between 'dialogue' and competing understandings of the nature of science and society – offers a multiplicity of approaches to defining the terms and goals of these events. Finally, we identify two broader implications of researching and evaluating these 'dialogue events' as sites of learning for ISIs and all efforts to increase public engagement with science and technology