Penetrative Thinking and Embodied Learning in VR: The Role of Embodied Affordances in Learning Geospatial Information
Open Access
- Author:
- Mohammadbagher, Mahda
- Graduate Program:
- Geography
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 03, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Anthony Robinson, Major Field Member
Julia Plummer, Outside Unit & Field Member
Lace Padilla, Special Member
Alexander Klippel, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Roger Downs, Major Field Member
Brian King, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Virtual Reality
Embodied Learning
3D visualization
Geospatial Learning
Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
User Experience
Agency
User Performance
Embodiment
Penetrative Thinking - Abstract:
- Virtual learning environments (VLEs) have gained the attention of educators as extended reality (XR) has the potential of creating embodied experiences. To design VLEs that are embodied, we need to define the embodied affordances that promote the sense of embodiment (SoE) in VLEs. We propose a taxonomy for the SoE with two embodied affordances: (1) embodied relative reference frame (ERFF) and (2) bodily engagement. To define the affordances that play a role in designing effective embodied VLEs, we designed three empirical studies using geoscience education as context. We asked students to perform a critical 3D task in an introductory geology course, that is, to visualize the cross-sections of earthquakes' depth and geometry in subduction zones worldwide. We used this task to evaluate their learning experience and performance; in other words, we evaluated their penetrative thinking ability. We examined students' learning experience and performance based on defining conditions using head-mounted displays which is called immersive VR (IVR) and on a desktop computer called desktop VR (DVR). This dissertation will explore the topic from three different perspectives. First, IVR as an embodied and three-dimensional platform was compared with conventional teaching methods (reading maps in 2D) in geosciences. Second, two different interaction techniques as types of bodily engagement in DVR were compared to find out whether the design of interaction techniques is essential in engaging students with insufficient domain knowledge or low penetrative thinking ability. Third, we focused on the degree of SoE and compared IVR with DVR to evaluate the effect of the degree of SoE on learning experience and performance. Overall, we found that IVR is superior in terms of learning experience compared to conventional teaching methods. Comparing IVR and DVR, we found that IFVR is not superior over DVR in terms of learning performance, despite the higher degree of SoE. Both platforms significantly improve students' knowledge gain. Evaluating different interaction techniques, however, suggests that the design choices matter, especially for students with insufficient domain knowledge or low penetrative thinking ability.