Abstract
We are collaboratively designing “ScienceSpace,” a collection of virtual worlds designed to explore the potential utility of physical immersion and multisensory perception to enhance science education. This paper describes the creation and formative evaluation of NewtonWorld, a virtual environment for investigating the kinematics and dynamics of one-dimensional motion. Through this research, we are developing design heuristics, assessment methodologies, and insights about multisensory learning generalizable to a wide range of educational environments. We are also gaining an understanding the strengths and weaknesses of virtual reality as a vehicle for learning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Blicken, M. & Byrne, C. M. (1993) Summer students in virtual reality. In Wexelblat, A. (ed.), Virtual Reality: Applications and Exploration. New York: Academic Press, Inc. 199–218.
Clement, J. (1982) Students' Preconceptions in Introductory Mechanics. American Journal of Physics 50, 66–71.
Dede, C. (1995) The Evolution of Constructivist Learning Environments: Immersion in Distributed, Virtual Worlds. Educational Technology 35, 5 (September–October), 46–52.
Dede, C. (1993) Evolving from Multimedia to Virtual Reality. In H. Maurer (ed.), Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia Annual. Charlottesville, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. 123–130.
Erickson, T. (1993) Artificial realities as data visualization environments. In Wexelblat, A. (Ed.) Virtual Reality: Applications and Explorations. New York: Academic Press Professional. 1–22.
Frederiksen, J., & White, B. (1992) Mental models and understanding: a problem for science education. In Scanlon, E., & O'Shea, T. (eds.), New Directions in Educational Technology New York: Springer Verlag. 211–226/
Fosnot, C. (1992) Constructing constructivism. In T.M. Duffy & D.H. Jonassen (eds.), Constructivism and the technology of instruction: A conversation.. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 167–176.
Halloun, I.A., & Hestenes, D. (1985a) The initial knowledge state of college students. American Journal of Physics 53, 1043–1055.
Halloun, I.A., & Hestenes, D. (1985b) Common sense concepts about motion. American Journal of Physics 53, 1056–1065.
Kalawsky, R. S. (1993) The Science of Virtual Reality and Virtual Environments. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
Krueger, M. (1991) Artificial Reality II. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
Malone, T. W., & Lepper, M. R. (1984) Making learning fun: a taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning. In Snow, R. E., & Farr, M. J. (eds.) Aptitude, Learning and instruction. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
McDermott, L. C. (1991) Millikan lecture 1990: what we teach and what is learned — closing the gap. American Journal of Physics, 59, 301–315.
Papert, S. (1988) The conservation of Piaget: The computer as grist for the constructivist mill. In G. Foreman & P.B. Pufall (eds.), Constructivism in the computer age. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 3–13.
Perkins, D. (1991) Technology meets constructivism: Do they make a marriage? Educational Technology 31, 5 (May), 18–23.
Piantanida, T., Boman, D. K., & Gille, J. (1993) Human perceptual issues and virtual reality. Virtual Reality Systems, 1 (1), 43–52.
Pimentel, K., & Teixeira, K. (1993) Virtual Reality. Through the new looking glass. New York: Intel/Windcrest Books/ McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Regian, J. W., Shebilske, W., & Monk, J. (1992) A preliminary empirical evaluation of virtual reality as a training tool for visual-spatial tasks. Journal of Communication, 42, 136–149.
Reif, F., & Larkin, J. (1991) Cognition in scientific and everyday domains: Comparison and learning implications. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 28, 743–760.
Salzman, M., Dede, C., and Loftin, B. (1995) Learner Centered Design of Sensorily Immersive Microworlds Using a Virtual Reality Interface. In J. Greer (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education. Charlottesville, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computers in Education. 554–564.
Sherin, B., Disessa, A. A., & Hammer, D. M. (1993). Dynaturtle revisited: Learning physics through collaborative design of a computer model. Interactive Learning Environments, 3, 2, 91–118.
Smith, R. B. (1987) Experiences with the alternate reality kit: an example of the tension between literalism and magic. In Proceedings of CHI+GI 1987. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. 324–333
Stuart, R., & Thomas, J. C. (1991) The implications of education in cyberspace. Multimedia Review, 2, 17–27.
Walker, J. (1990). Through the Looking Glass. In B. Laurel (ed.), The art of computer-human interface design. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley. 213–245.
Wenzel, E. M. (1992) Localization in virtual acoustic displays. Presence, 1(1), 80–107.
White, B. (1993) Thinkertools: Causal models, conceptual change, and science education. Cognition and Instruction, 10, 1–100.
Wickens, C. (1992) Virtual Reality and Education. IEEE Spectrum, 42–47.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Dede, C.J., Salzman, M., Loftin, R.B. (1996). The development of a virtual world for learning newtonian mechanics. In: Brusilovsky, P., Kommers, P., Streitz, N. (eds) Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Virtual Reality Models, Systems, and Applications. MHVR 1996. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1077. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61282-3_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61282-3_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-61282-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-68432-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive