I was finally able to break out the VR headsets! This has been a moment I think I have been more excited about than my students. I have not only been excited about these headsets for the purpose of this study, but also to see how my students would react to learn if this is something they might be interested in using for other things. (I'm almost ready to launch a unit on The Odyssey for freshmen, and I'm curious to see if there are any AR resources out there pertaining to the text. I think that could be a really awesome way to incorporate the headsets into the classroom.) But for now, this unit of vocabulary followed the same pre-test, teaching, post-test routine as done previously with the first traditional method.
Pre-testing
This time, it was a much more relaxed situation for all takers. The reactions were not as severe as they were the first time. This could be due to the fact that this pre-/post-test procedure is a little more routine and they understand I am only using this information to compare their previous knowledge to new information they've acquired and retained throughout the vocabulary unit. The procedure remained the same; students took the same assessment they will take at the end of the vocabulary unit as well.
Teaching
Through this method of teaching, I am hoping to be able to “present the information onto the real environment thereby creating a stronger connection between the digital content and the real environment” (Santos, et al., 2016). For the first AR vocabulary unit, I chose a shot of Times Square in New York because some of my students have previously lived in New York or they at least have some familiarity of Times Square/New York through TV, movies, or something of the sort. I was hoping to reach some type of prior knowledge about New York or a big city in general. That being said, the city setting wasn't a completely new environment for them, but the AR method was new to them. I tried mixing something comfortable with something new to create their learning environment. Students were shocked when first putting on the headsets. A few gasps were heard with some "oohs" and "ahhs" thrown into the mix. Their initial reactions were positive and some even tried to walk around.
Before trying to teach utilizing the headsets, I gave students some time to just explore, adjust, and look at their new AR surroundings. Once students were comfortable with their new world, I started going through my personally "scripted" way of teaching the new words and using Times Square as my anchor. While teaching, I asked students to find examples of the words in the context of their AR world. Students responded well by making their own individual connections, calling out things they saw, and responding verbally to the questions within my script for them to make connections. Furthermore, this all relates back to some initial research surrounding The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, which states “People learn more deeply from words and pictures than from words alone” (Mayer, 2014). The combination of my words, their words, and the AR images should have allowed for deeper learning of the vocabulary words. While they made their own connections and answered out loud, other participants then joined them in sharing their thinking, which either confirmed their thoughts or gave them a new perspective. Through this, students were really able to take ownership of their own learning. They could make their own connections that made sense to them, instead of having something giving to them as a visual. After leaving the day of teaching, I couldn't wait for a week's time to pass. I was completely unsure (but super excited) to see how their post-testing cycle would go.
Even without using a VR headsets, the students in the room who are not part of my official study were still able to participate with their peers because Nearpod turns the image into a 3D photo on a phone screen without pressing the "Enter VR" button like their peers with the headsets did. Even if a student didn't have a phone, they could still join via laptop and click and drag the photo around to see what was going on and make their own connections to the vocabulary words. Through this, all students were able to join in together while working through the words. Regardless of how the images were being shown to students, each avenue of image still allowed students to interact and discuss with each other.
As luck would have it, I got a Learning Walk (what my district calls a walkthrough observation) during one period of teaching utilizing the VR headsets, so I have some outsider observation on this round of vocabulary. While doing something like this research study, it was nice get a perspective on what is happening from someone who doesn't have a hand in the process. My administrator noted some strengths, challenges, and asked an interesting feedback question:
Strengths
100% student engagement
Relevant and rigorous content
Instructional Strategies Utilized - Space learning over time, formative assessment throughout the lesson, summative assessment and data analysis utilized in pre-post tests, interactive graphics with verbal descriptions
Her comment about engagement correlates to more initial research into incorporating AR into the classroom, stating “the AR approach increases engagement in the learning process” (Ibrahim, et al., 2018). This was part of the goal. If students are completely engaged, the learning process should be even easier, and hopefully aiding in their retention.
Challenges
Wifi connectivity and working phone
Where my classroom is located within the physical building, cell service is hard to come by. Some spots are a complete dead zone while others are a 1 - 2 bar situation. She knows this is something dealt with when using phones as tech tools, as her office is around the corner from my classroom. There is also no wifi password given for students to use on their personal devices. This challenge didn't derail us from being able to take on this project, it only takes the loading/buffering time from almost instantly to about a minute (or more) from launch to full functionality.
Feedback
If this were to be utilized often, would student engagement decrease or remain the same?
This is something I'm wondering about for when we take on the second AR vocabulary unit as well. Will students react the same? Will they be into it still? Would it make a difference if AR was used in a different modality to teach something else? So many questions surround this. I am interested to see how the second AR unit will play out and answer some of my questions.
Figure 1: Slideshow photos from teaching with VR headsets
Post-testing
Even though the process remained the same, the reactions were both similar yet different. At this moment, I have 30 active participants. The chart to the left shows how current participants' scoring breaks down in comparison from the traditional method (unit 1) and this AR method (unit 2). Without digging too deep in the data, on the surface, it appears that more students were able to score higher on their post-test than they had on their pre-test after being taught the vocabulary words through using the VR headsets compared to the traditional method teaching data. Through this round of post-testing, there were some unmeasurable differences I had noticed as well. Even though they don't count toward this study, they are still positive and noteworthy regarding the student's behavior:
Students were recalling images from the AR experience when coming up with their sentences
There were a lot more "tip of the tongue" moments where students clearly were recalling some connection they made, but they maybe just couldn't get all the information out
Some still seemed lost with only getting the information once and without study materials
There was a lot more overall confidence in taking the post-test
If they couldn't get the word's meaning out, they could very specifically recall what they were looking at when learning the word
Like I had stated previously, I was unsure of how this round of post-testing was going to go. I didn't know if the AR would distract students causing the vocabulary to be pushed to the side, if it would be a huge success, if it would be a complete failure, or they'd look at the post-test like they were still pre-testing because it was taught in such an unconventional way compared to teaching styles they may be used to. Regardless of the final results of this study, I think it has been a positive impact on my students so far.
In my next post, I will discuss the data analysis after all four vocabulary units have been completed. I am excited to see how the rest of my study pans out. Some students have even asked if and how we will continue to utilize the headsets after the study is over. I continue to look forward to sharing my research through this internship journey. Feel free to contact me through the comments, this site, or email me at mtyson2@ycp.edu.
References
Ibrahim, A., Huynh, B., Downey, J., Hollerer, T., Chun, D., & Odonovan, J. (2018). ARbis
Pictus: A Study of Vocabulary Learning with Augmented Reality. IEEE Transactions on
Visualization and Computer Graphics, 24(11), 2867–2874. doi: 10.1109/tvcg.2018. 2868568
Mayer, R. (2014). Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. In R. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, pp. 43-71). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO978113954 7369.005
Santos, M. E. C. et al (2016). Augmented reality as multimedia: the case for situated vocabulary learning. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 11(4). doi: 10.1186/s41039-016-0028-2