Abstract
Immersive environments such as 3-D virtual worlds have shown great potential for learning since they have many features that distinguish them from other learning systems. They support explaining difficult phenomena by visualising objects and their relationships. Additionally, they enable collaborative learning by connecting students in real-time and increase engagement and exploration between them. However, assessing learning outcomes in these environments involves many challenges such as dynamically capturing and analysing the actions of users and translating these actions into learning evidence. This paper focusses on significant aspects of the learning process: observation and assessment. It presents a virtual observation model that maps observing learners in classrooms with observing and assessing students in 3-D virtual environments. In addition, it demonstrates the implementation of the observation model and provides examples of its application. In general, the paper aims to enhance the learning affordances of the 3-D virtual worlds by recording all in-world learning evidence and visualising students’ assessments to improve learning.
References
Emerging Tools and Applications of Virtual Reality in Education. Ringgold Inc., Beaverton (2016)
Dalgarno, B., Lee, M.J.: What are the learning affordances of 3-D virtual environments? Br. J. Edu. Technol. 41(1), 10–32 (2010)
Duncan, I., Miller, A., Jiang, S.: A taxonomy of virtual worlds usage in education. Br. J. Edu. Technol. 43(6), 949–964 (2012)
Pena-Rios, A., et al.: Remote mixed reality collaborative laboratory activities: learning activities within the InterReality portal. In: Proceedings of the The 2012 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Joint Conferences on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology, vol. 03. IEEE Computer Society, pp. 362–366 (2012)
Felemban, S.: Distributed pedagogical virtual machine (d-pvm). In: The Immersive Learning Research Network Conference (iLRN 2015), p. 58 (2015)
Wells, G.: Action, talk, and text: learning and teaching through inquiry. vol. 16. Teachers College Press (2001)
Gardner, M., Elliott, J.: The immersive education laboratory: understanding affordances, structuring experiences, and creating constructivist, collaborative processes, in mixed-reality smart environments. EAI Endorsed Trans. Future Intell. Educ. Environ. 14(1), e6 (2014)
Felemban, S., Gardner, M., Challagan, V.: Virtual observation lenses for assessing online collaborative learning environments. In: Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN 2016). Verlag der Technischen Universität Graz: Santa Barbra, USA. pp. 80–92 (2016)
Felemban, S., Gardner, M., Callaghan, V.: An event detection approach for identifying learning evidence in collaborative virtual environments. In: 2016 8th Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CEEC). IEEE Xplore (2016)
Angelo, T.A.: Reassessing (and defining) assessment. AAHE Bull. 48, 7–9 (1995)
Reiners, T., Gregory, S., Dreher, H.: Educational assessment in virtual world environments. In: ATN Assessment Conference 2011: Meeting the Challenges (2011)
Bloomfield, P.R., Livingstone, D.: Immersive learning and assessment with quizHUD. Comput. Inf. Syst. J. 13(1), 20–26 (2009)
Livingstone, D., Kemp, J.: Integrating web-based and 3D learning environments: second Life meets Moodle. Next Gener. Technol.-Enhanced Learn. 8 (2008)
Thompson, K., Markauskaite, L.: Identifying Group Processes and Affect in Learners: A Holistic Approach to. Cases on the Assessment of Scenario and Game-Based Virtual Worlds in Higher Education, p. 175 (2014)
Schunn, C.D., Anderson, J.R.: The generality/specificity of expertise in scientific reasoning. Cogn. Sci. 23(3), 337–370 (1999)
Kerr, D., Chung, G.K.: Identifying key features of student performance in educational video games and simulations through cluster analysis. JEDM-J. Educ. Data Min. 4(1), 144–182 (2012)
Bernardini, A., Conati, C.: Discovering and recognizing student interaction patterns in exploratory learning environments. In: Aleven, V., Kay, J., Mostow, J. (eds.) ITS 2010. LNCS, vol. 6094, pp. 125–134. Springer, Heidelberg (2010). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-13388-6_17
Mislevy, R.J., Almond, R.G., Lukas, J.F.: A brief introduction to evidence‐centered design. ETS Res. Report Ser. 2003(1), i–29 (2003)
Tesfazgi, S.H.: Survey on behavioral observation methods in virtual environments. Research Assignment. Delft Univ. of Tech. (2003)
Gobert, J.D., et al.: Leveraging educational data mining for real-time performance assessment of scientific inquiry skills within microworlds. JEDM-J. Educ. Data Min. 4(1), 111–143 (2012)
Mislevy, R.J., Riconscente, M.: Evidence-centered assessment design. Handbook of Test Development, pp. 61–90 (2006)
Shute, V.J., Rieber, L., Van Eck, R.: Games… and… learning. Trends and Issues in Instr. Des. Technol. 3 (2011)
Shute, V.J.: Stealth assessment in computer-based games to support learning. Comput. Games Instruction 55(2), 503–524 (2011)
Borich, G.D.: Observation Skills for Effective Teaching. Routledge (2016)
Ibáñez, M.B., Crespo, Raquel M., Kloos, C.D.: Assessment of knowledge and competencies in 3D virtual worlds: a proposal. In: Reynolds, N., Turcsányi-Szabó, M. (eds.) KCKS 2010. IAICT, vol. 324, pp. 165–176. Springer, Heidelberg (2010). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-15378-5_16
Pena-Rios, A.: Exploring mixed reality in distributed collaborative learning environments. In: School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering. University of Essex (2016)
Csapó, B., et al.: Technological issues for computer-based assessment. In: Griffin, P., McGaw, B., Care, E. (eds.) Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills, pp. 143–230. Springer, Netherlands (2012)
Johnson, D.W.: Cooperation in the classroom. American Psychological Association (1991)
Kyllonen, P.C.: Measurement of 21st century skills within the common core state standards. In: Invitational Research Symposium on Technology Enhanced Assessments, May 2012
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Felemban, S., Gardner, M., Callaghan, V., Pena-Rios, A. (2017). Towards Observing and Assessing Collaborative Learning Activities in Immersive Environments. In: Beck, D., et al. Immersive Learning Research Network. iLRN 2017. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 725. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60633-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60633-0_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60632-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60633-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)