Bridging Strategies for VR-Based Learning

A distributed immersive virtual environment was deployed as a component of a pedagogical strategy for teaching third grade children that the Earth is round. The displacement strategy is based on the theory that fundamental conceptual change requires an alternative cognitive starting point which doesn’t invoke the features of pre-existing models. While the VR apparatus helped to establish that alternative framework, conceptual change was strongly influenced by the bridging activities which related that experience to the target domain. Simple declarations of relevance proved ineffective. A more articulated bridging process involving physical models was effective for some children, but the multiple representations employed required too much model-matching for others. Keywords Learning environments, conceptual change, virtual reality, user models

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1999
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Thomas G. Moher, Andrew E. Johnson, Stellan Ohlsson, Mark Gillingham
• Keywords: CHI 1999, Conceptual Change, Fundamental Conceptual Change, Human Computer Interaction, Immersive Virtual Environment