TY - JOUR
T1 - Inferences on enacted understanding
T2 - using immersive technologies to assess intuitive physical science knowledge
AU - Tscholl, Michael
AU - Morphew, Jason
AU - Lindgren, Robb
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for the MEteor project was provided by the National Science Foundation (DRL-1114621). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding institutions. We would also like to thank the entire MEteor team, especially J. Michael Moshell, Eileen Smith, and Charles Hughes.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Purpose: This study aims to advance the proposal to use immersive virtual learning environments to stimulate and reveal deep-seated knowledge about science, giving instructors and researchers unique possibilities for assessing and identifying intuitive physical science knowledge. Aside from the ability to present rich and dynamic stimuli, these environments afford bodily enactment of people’s understanding, which draws less from declarative knowledge stores and more from everyday experiences with the physical world. Design/methodology/approach: The authors ground their proposal in a critical review of the impact of stimulus and task characteristics of traditional physics inventories. Using a grounded theory approach, the authors present classifications and interpretations of observed bodily enactments of physics understandings in a study where participants enacted their understanding of force and motion of space in an immersive, interactive mixed reality (MR) environment. Findings: The authors find that instances of these action categories can be interpreted as relating to underlying knowledge, often identified by other studies. The authors thus replicate a number of prior findings, which provide evidence to establish validation for using MR simulation as a tool for identifying people’s physical intuitions. Research limitations/implications: This study targeted only a few specific physical science scenarios. Further, while a number of key insights about student knowledge came from the analysis, many of the observations are mere leads in need of further investigation and interpretation rather than core findings. Originality/value: Immersive digital learning environments are primarily used for instruction. The authors propose to use and design them for assessment as well. This paper should prompt more research and development in this direction.
AB - Purpose: This study aims to advance the proposal to use immersive virtual learning environments to stimulate and reveal deep-seated knowledge about science, giving instructors and researchers unique possibilities for assessing and identifying intuitive physical science knowledge. Aside from the ability to present rich and dynamic stimuli, these environments afford bodily enactment of people’s understanding, which draws less from declarative knowledge stores and more from everyday experiences with the physical world. Design/methodology/approach: The authors ground their proposal in a critical review of the impact of stimulus and task characteristics of traditional physics inventories. Using a grounded theory approach, the authors present classifications and interpretations of observed bodily enactments of physics understandings in a study where participants enacted their understanding of force and motion of space in an immersive, interactive mixed reality (MR) environment. Findings: The authors find that instances of these action categories can be interpreted as relating to underlying knowledge, often identified by other studies. The authors thus replicate a number of prior findings, which provide evidence to establish validation for using MR simulation as a tool for identifying people’s physical intuitions. Research limitations/implications: This study targeted only a few specific physical science scenarios. Further, while a number of key insights about student knowledge came from the analysis, many of the observations are mere leads in need of further investigation and interpretation rather than core findings. Originality/value: Immersive digital learning environments are primarily used for instruction. The authors propose to use and design them for assessment as well. This paper should prompt more research and development in this direction.
KW - Assessment
KW - Embodied learning
KW - Intuitive physics
KW - Mixed reality
KW - Science education
KW - Virtual learning environments
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U2 - 10.1108/ILS-12-2020-0260
DO - 10.1108/ILS-12-2020-0260
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85110463218
SN - 0307-4803
VL - 122
SP - 503
EP - 524
JO - Information and Learning Science
JF - Information and Learning Science
IS - 7-8
ER -