Exploring 3- D virtual reality technology for spatial ability and chemistry achievement.

We investigated the potential of Second Life® ( SL), a three-dimensional (3- D) virtual world, to enhance undergraduate students' learning of a vital chemistry concept. A quasi-experimental pre-posttest control group design was used to conduct the study. A total of 387 participants completed three a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 579 - 591
Autores principales: Merchant, Z., Goetz, E.T., Keeney-Kennicutt, W., Cifuentes, L., Kwok, O., Davis, T.J.
Formato: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Dec2013
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:We investigated the potential of Second Life® ( SL), a three-dimensional (3- D) virtual world, to enhance undergraduate students' learning of a vital chemistry concept. A quasi-experimental pre-posttest control group design was used to conduct the study. A total of 387 participants completed three assignment activities either in SL or using two-dimensional (2- D) images. Students were administered an 11-question chemistry achievement test and two measures of spatial ability ( Purdue Visualization of Rotations Test, Card Rotations Test). Although analyses of covariance revealed no statistically significant differences between the two groups as a whole for any of the outcome measures, a subgroup analyses was conducted to decompose the relative impact of 3- D virtual reality instruction within SL. We found that students classified as having poor spatial ability showed significantly greater improvement in understanding the 3- D nature of molecules if they did relevant activities in a 3- D virtual world than those students who only worked with 2- D images.