Assessing Young Children's Embodied Learning of States of Matter in a Mixed-Reality Environment

• In Event: Perspectives on Learning in Technology-Rich Contexts

Abstract

In this paper, we explore ways to assess young children’s understanding of states of matter after engaging in embodied activities within a mixed-reality environment. We assessed the learning gains of 22 elementary students who had participated in a mixed-reality environment via a multiple-choice test and one-on-one interview. The quantitative analysis on multiple-choice test showed students’ overall understanding improved after they engaged in the activity. Then we applied mix-method to analyze students’ performance in the individual interview, and found for the challenging concept such as connection between macro/micro connection between particles’ behavior, the individual interview offered students opportunities to explore their ideas through a combination of talk, gesture, and motion, which led to richer and more complete explanations.

Authors

• Xintian Tu, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Megan Alyse Humburg, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Joshua Adam Danish, Indiana University

• Bria Nichole Davis, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Zachary David Ryan, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Morgan Vickery, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Mengxi Zhou, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Nitasha Mathayas