Abstract
In earlier studies investigating the learning of historical chronology, virtual fly-throughs were used in which successive historical events were represented by images on virtual screens, placed in temporal-spatial sequence. Undergraduate students benefited more than school-age children from virtual 3D (compared to 2D) training, perhaps because they took on the task as a challenge. In this study a modification of the earlier paradigm was used, in a game-like format, in which successive screens (paintings, representing epochs of art history) had to be memorised and anticipated during training, the participant’s score accumulating on the screen. Compared with PowerPoint and verbal-semantic training conditions, VE training resulted in more rapid learning, better recall of associated semantic information and error-free recall of the picture sequence. Possible applications of this paradigm for teaching were discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atkinson RC, Shiffrin RM (1971) The control of short-term memory. Sci Am 225:82–90
Barraclough S, Foreman N (1994) Factors influencing recall of supraspan word lists: caffeine dose and introversion. Pharmacopsychoecologia 7:229–236
Bliss JP, Tidwell PD, Guest MA (1997) The effectiveness of virtual reality for administering spatial navigational training to firefighters. Presence Teleoper Virtual Environ 6:73–86
Broadbent D (1981) Decision and stress. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Cooper H (1994) Historical thinking and cognitive development in the teaching of history. In: Bourdillon H (ed) Teaching history. Routledge, London, pp 101–121
Cooper H (2000) The teaching of history in primary schools: implementing the revised national curriculum, 3rd edn. David Fulton Publishers, London
Foreman N, Stanton D, Wilson P, Duffy H (2003) Spatial knowledge of a real school environment acquired from virtual or physical models by able-bodied children and children with physical disabilities. J Exp Psychol Appl 9:67–74
Foreman N, Wilson P, Stanton D, Duffy H, Parnell R (2005) Transfer of spatial knowledge to a two-level shopping mall in older people, following virtual exploration. Environ Behav 37:275–292
Foreman N, Boyd-Davis S, Moar M, Korallo L, Chappell E (2007). Can virtual environments enhance the learning of historical chronology? Instr Sci (in press)
Friedman WJ (1982) Conventional time concepts and children’s structuring of time. In: Friedman WJ (ed) The developmental psychology of time, Academic Press, New York, pp 171–208
Haydn T (1999) Teaching children about time; back to basics? In: Phillips R, Easdown G (eds) History education: subject knowledge, pedagogy and practice. Standing conference of history teacher educators in the United Kingdom, Lancaster, pp 117–130
Hodkinson A (1995) Historical time and national curriculum. Teach Hist 79:18–20
Hoodless P (1996) Time and timelines in the primary school. The Historical Association, London
Kullberg RL (1995) Dynamic timelines: visualizing historical information in three dimensions. MSc. Thesis, MIT Media Laboratory, MIT, Boston
Masterman E, Rogers Y (2002) A framework for designing interactive multimedia to scaffold young children’s understanding of historical chronology. Instr Sci 30:221–241
O’Hara L, O’Hara M (2001) Teaching history 3–11: the essential guide. Continuum, London
O’Neil MJ (1992) Effects of familiarity and plan complexity on way-finding in simulated buildings. J Environ Psychol 12:319–327
Partington G (1980) The idea of an historical education. NFER Publishing Company, Windsor
Pedley J, Camfield L, Foreman N (2003) Navigating memories. In: Ahrends B, Thackara D (eds) Experiment: conversations in art and science. Wellcome Trust, London, pp 173–235
Rose D, Foreman N (1999) Virtual reality: a new tool for psychology? Psychologist 12:550–554
Ruddle RA, Payne SJ, Jones DM (1997) Navigating buildings in “desk-top” virtual environments: Experimental investigations using extended navigational experience. J Exp Psychol Appl 3:143–159
Smart L (1996) Using I.T. in primary school history. Cassell, London
Tolman EC (1948) Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychol Rev 55:189–208
Turner A (1998) “It would have been bad”. The development of historical imagination and empathy in a group of secondary age pupils with severe learning difficulties. Br J Spec Educ 25:164–166
Underwood J, Underwood G (1990) Computers and learning. Blackwell, Oxford
Watson D (1993) The impact report: an evaluation of the impact of educational technology on children’s achievements. Kings College, London
Wilson PN (1997) Use of virtual reality computing in spatial learning research. In: Foreman N, Gillett R (eds) Handbook of spatial research paradigms and methodologies: volume 1, Spatial cognition in the child and adult. Psychology Press, Hove, pp 181–206
Wood L, Holden C (1995) Teaching early years history. Chris Kington Publishing, Cambridge
Yaxley J (2004) Experiencing history. Teach Hist 42:24–25
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Foreman, N., Korallo, L., Newson, D. et al. The incorporation of challenge enhances the learning of chronology from a virtual display. Virtual Reality 12, 107–113 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-007-0078-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-007-0078-2