Beyond the Headset: Designing to Support the Sharing of Alternative Reality Experiences in Small-Group Mixed-Technology Collaborative Settings (Poster 1)

• In Event: Critically Examining Space and Time in Learning and Design for More Just and Equitable Futures

Abstract

Objectives
Immersive technologies allow users to engage with spatial experiences, explore knowledge, and establish perspectives that are unique to the use of the technology. While these experiences are valuable for the immersed learner, they also have the potential to introduce or amplify inequities of knowledge and participation if these experiences are not shared effectively with the group (Shah & Lewis, 2019). CEASAR (Connections of Earth and Sky with Augmented Reality) aims to facilitate the sharing of these valuable AR experiences as students explore spatially and temporally complex content via the design of a linked (AR and tablet accessible), coordinated simulation platform that allows all users to actively engage with knowledge and experiences in and out of AR.

Theoretical Frameworks
The design of the CEASAR platform and associated tasks pull heavily from both collaborative learning and embodied learning theories. Collaborative learning in science contexts has shown to have positive effects on comprehension, knowledge retention, and knowledge transfer (Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008; Menekse & Chi, 2019).
This work also draws heavily on theories of embodied learning and its application in the design of immersive learning environments (Authors, 2013; 2014). Embodiment magnifies the importance of sharing and engaging in multiple perspectives and representations, which have been shown to be critical in promoting strong conceptual engagement, particularly in astronomy education (Plummer et al., 2014; White & Pea, 2011). In addition, researchers have begun to explore the role of embodiment in the affirmation of a learners identity and how they choose to engage with an embodied learning experience (Mathayas et al., 2022)

Methods
Group observations were conducted as they completed a problem based learning task designed around the capabilities of CEASAR. All group interactions were coded for collaborative initiations, technology utilized, the nature of the collaborative statements (group management, creating, revising or refuting knowledge), and the occurrence of gesture.

Materials and Data Sources
The data utilized was collected from introductory astronomy students and includes whole-group video and audio, screen or composite AR output capture, logged software interactions, and final written task documents.

Results
Review of the coded group interactions shows a variety of attempts by AR users to share unique AR knowledge and experience through the use of CEASAR features as well as via gesture (see Figure 1). In contrast, some groups had AR users that did not attempt to share their observations and experiences with their group, isolating their unique perspective.

Significance
While the software and task supported the active exploration of information across space and time, how the students chose to represent that information to others (particularly) via gesture, and the process of reframing spatial and temporal relationships within the classroom space for non-AR users, added a new layer to the anticipated collaborative dynamics within a group. In this context, CAESAR enables the exploration of a unique intersection of immersive embodied engagement and sociocultural classroom practices that can inform and motivate the designs of future AR learning systems.

Authors

• James P. Planey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Robb Lindgren, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Nathan R Kimball, Concord Consortium
  Presenting Author