Procedural learning in virtual environments and serious games
Virtual environments and serious games are a popular media used to fulfil a variety of purposes,including teaching and learning. The former are computer-generated environmentsthat present three-dimensional spatial representations. The latter are games which fundamentallycombine virtual environments...
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| Format: | thesis |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ir.upsi.edu.my/detailsg.php?det=5689 |
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| Summary: | Virtual environments and serious games are a popular media used to fulfil a variety of purposes,including teaching and learning. The former are computer-generated environmentsthat present three-dimensional spatial representations. The latter are games which fundamentallycombine virtual environments and gamification, and are used for objectives otherthan pleasure and pure entertainment. Most recent works have investigated the effect ofvirtual reality technology on learners, sense of presence and so on. However, less investigatedis the relationship between the achievement oflearning objectives and the knowledge deliverymethods utilised (knowledge representations and instruction modalities); or the effect oftechnology-enhanced learning on learner's mood after the intervention (and consequently,the learning) and whether there is any gender difference; or finally, the transfer of knowledgefrom virtual to the real world and its long-term retention; which are all elements investigatedin this research.Two studies of procedural learning were conducted to investigate the elements highlightedabove. The first study investigated on the requirements of a three-dimensional virtual environmentas compared to Google Street View, instruction modalities such as textual, phoneand companion, and short-term memory to learn a new route. The findings show that thevirtual environment is better than Google Street View according to users' experience andhaving a companion to the task is a better instruction modality for route learning. The secondstudy focused on ritual learning that is the case study of the research. The study investigatedon the efficiency of a serious game as compared to PowerPoint note, collaboration with andwithout a coach, memory recall between short and long-term period and gender differences.The findings indicate that the serious game is better than PowerPoint note according to users'self-reported score and having the coach improves users' learning efficiency and moods. Also,knowledge of landmarks representations remains longer in users' memory if learnt from theserious game and factual knowledge remains longer in users' memory if learnt with the coach.Considering gender differences, women feel that the task is more enjoyable if learning takesplace with the companion, and they recall more landmarks than men, whereas men take lesstime to complete the task.Apart from that, the ritual and navigation knowledge acquired in a virtual environment ora serious game can be competently used in reality, and it encourages users to remembermore landmarks. The further findings from both studies also reveal that navigation in thevirtual environment and serious game improve users' overall mood and happiness and womenwith improved happiness after the virtual training increase their learning performance. Also,younger players improve learning performance after learning in a virtual environment andserious game.To sum up, virtual environments and serious games can be used as a delivery method forprocedural learning, in particular for ritual learning as they induce enjoyment, create an interestingexperience and stimulate learning performance. Both representations also encouragelandmarks memorization. Also, collaborative learning, in particular with a coach, is always thebest method to convey, share and understand the knowledge. Finally, women enjoy learningwith a companion. |
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