Combining Handhelds with a Whole-Class Display to Support the Learning of Scientific Control
Authors
Tom Moher University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Xun Ding University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Jennifer Wiley University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Syeda Hussain University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Preeti Singh University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Vasisht Srinivasan University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Diane Conmy Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, Oak Park, IL
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=766048 Abstract: Third grade students used wireless handhelds and a large shared display to discover strategies for control of variables in scientific experiments. The technology suite supported activity requirements including synchronous individual control, face-to-face discourse, and instantaneous display updates. In an empirical study, students demonstrated learning in both original and transfer domains.
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In this study, the researchers allowed their subjects to navigate through a large shared display with networked wireless handhelds to help students learn about a fundamental concept of experimental science, the control of variables (COV) strategy, and hopefully adopt this strategy easily and successfully. The researachers developed an activity called "Who's Who?" in which each student simultaneously controlled an independent variable on a projected screen of a grid consisting of "pixels." Each pixel on the grid is controlled by its own handheld PC. When a button on the handheld is pressed, the corresponding pixel changes colors. The goal for the project was to ask the group to modify the color of the pixels until it reached a final configuration state.
Before the experiment began, the subjects, a group of third-grade students, were given a written test so researchers could evaluate their existing knowledge of the COV strategy. The researchers conducted two experiments on consecutive days after the written test, with students mapped to different pixels for each experiment. After both experiments, the researchers conducted structured interviews (pre-determined questions, methods, etc.) with the subjects to assess whether or not they understood what had happened. These interviews were videotaped.
The results of the two activities were very dramatic. For the first experiment, the subjects took a little more than half an hour to complete the task. For the second experiment, the subjects took less than 4 minutes.
The researchers believe that most of the task strategy learning occurred during the first session. This is obvious since the little time was passed before the subjects completed the activity the second time. The subjects articulated a "one at a time" algorithm after each activity and their mechanism understanding increased more than 20% between the two activities.
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I think the written test was a good way to evaluate the subjects' knowledge on a specific topic. I don't think it would be very effective for the EcoRaft Project, however, because our questions are open-ended and it would probably be more successful to conduct a semi-structured interview. However, I do think it would be important to review the subjects' improvement in learning strategies, like mechanism learning, conceptual learning, etc.
The Round Earth Project - Collaborative VR for Conceptual Learning
Johnson, A., Moher, T., Ohlsson, S., Gillingham, M., The Round Earth Project: Collaborative VR for Conceptual Learning. In IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, vol 19 no 6, November / December, 1999, pp. 60-69.
http://www.evl.uic.edu/aej/papers/cga99/cga99rev.html"The Round Earth Project is a collaboration among researchers in computer science, education and psychology. It investigates two alternative pedagogical strategies for teaching children that the Earth is spherical, and the implications of that fact. One strategy, which we term the ‘transformationalist’ approach, attempts to effect conceptual change by breaking down the children’s prior models. The alternative ‘selectionist’ strategy, in contrast, attempts to effect learning in an alternative setting (in our case, a small diameter asteroid), free of pre-existing biases, and to relate that learning back to the target domain: the Earth."
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Virtual reality is used to simulate much of the action in the project. The researchers hope that virtual reality will affect the children's capacity for conceptual learning. They also hope that introducing new, fundamental ideas will replace the learners' existing ideas. Three pilot studies were executed. The first study was to familiarize the subjects with the exhibits. For the second study, the researchers conducted pre-test interviews to assess the subjects' knowledge of the topic at hand and then questioned the subjects after the interaction. The results from the second study were "disheartening" because the subjects had not yet abandoned their existing ideas. In the third study, the researchers brought in 2d models to demonstrate the difference between 2d and 3d models, but the subjects did not maintain consistency between the two models. Although some of the subjects still held on to their existing ideas, others demonstrated temporary effective learning immediately after the experiment but not the next day and others appeared to reflect persistent learning of some of the target knowledge components. Each case study was designed to probe for understanding of particular topics. The researchers designed a set of questions to ask before and after the subjects' interaction and measured whether or not they understood the topics at hand. In particular, the researchers asked them whether or not they understood the concepts behind particular words such as "horizon" (which meant little to the subjects). The researchers created both written and verbal questions to test what the subjects learned. The subjects treated the experience more like a game and this negatively affected their ability to replace their existing ideas with new ones. However, for the subjects who succeeded in changing their ideas did so because of the changes the researchers made in their protocol.
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In this study, the researchers continually improved their evaluation methods. Their ways of evaluating included familiarizing the subjects with the exhibit [by interaction and also by providing supervised guidance], questioning the subjects on what happened and how it came to do so, introducing new methods when the previous studies failed to show any improvement [i.e., bringing in 2d models to distinguish it from 3d models], and post-game interviews.
In terms of the EcoRaft Project, I think it might be helpful for us to introduce some sort of guidance during our subjects' interaction with the installation if need be. This can be done by providing sparse hints throughout the gameplay. However, the goal for the Round Earth Project was to dispel any ideas that the Earth is flat-shaped and not spherical. Our goal is not to dispel any ideas but to encourage a more ecological way of thinking.
