Using Virtual Worlds and Augmented Reality to Teach Causality Across Time and Distance in Ecosystems

• In Event: Impact of Instructional Environments on Learning

Abstract

Reasoning about ecosystems includes consideration of causality over time and across spatial distances. This study examined the learning of fifth and sixth graders (n = 40) using the affordances of a virtual world called EcoMUVE and Mobile Broadband Devices (MBDs) components designed to support learning and transfer of these causal features in ecosystems dynamics. Two conditions were contrasted; intermingling the MBD experience with the EcoMUVE program and using the MBD components following EcoMUVE. Early findings suggest shifts towards greater recognition of the importance of change over time and distant drivers of change in ecosystem dynamics. Case study narratives developed from log-file data, video, and mappings of students movements within EcoMUVE illuminate changes in what students explored as their understanding developed.

Authors

• Tina A. Grotzer, Harvard University

• Amy M. Kamarainen, New York Hall of Science

• Michael Shane Tutwiler, Harvard University

• Shari J. Metcalf, Harvard University

• Kasia Derbiszewska, Harvard University

• Caroline J Courter, University of North Carolina - Wilmington

• Christopher J. Dede, Harvard University