The study used a mixed-methods experimental design and involved a three-session VR STEM learning intervention. The quantitative data was collected through the intervention by survey questionnaire, session quiz, and pre- and post-tests, while the interviews were taken after the intervention. The structural equation modeling method was used to explore the relationships among factors in the VR learning experience. Longitudinal quantitative comparisons were conducted with the multiple imputation method. Its purpose was to evaluate the changing magnitude of factors across sessions. After quantitative analysis, interview transcripts were analyzed. They were used to triangulate or provide context for understanding of quantitative results.
The results showed that motivation and engagement play a critical mediation role in an effective VR learning experience. While individuals’ psychological responses and motivation may significantly increase in a VR learning experience for novelty, the novelty effect may not steeply decrease when individuals are becoming familiar with the novelty. This phenomenon is more observable in a VR condition having a high degree of immersion and embodiment. In addition, novelty does not necessarily increase learning achievement. The increase of learning achievement is more dependent on a match between the learning content and the learning method. The embodied learning method is appropriate for instructing difficult knowledge and spatial knowledge. Reserving enough time for reflection is important to deep learning in a VR environment.
The cold and the flu are two of the most prevalent diseases in the world. Many over the counter (OTC) medications have been created to combat the symptoms of these illnesses. Some medications take a holistic approach by claiming to alleviate a wide range of symptoms, while others target a specific symptom. As these medications become more ubiquitous within the United State of America (USA), consumers form associations and mental models about the cold/flu field. The goal of Study 1 was to build a Pathfinder network based on the associations consumers make between cold/flu symptoms and medications. 100 participants, 18 years or older, fluent in English, and residing in the USA, completed a survey about the relatedness of cold/flu symptoms to OTC medications. They rated the relatedness on a scale of 1 (highly unrelated) to 7 (highly related) and those rankings were used to build a Pathfinder network that represented the average of those associations. Study 2 was conducted to validate the Pathfinder network. A different set of 90 participants with the same restrictions as those in Study 1 completed a matching associations test. They were prompted to match symptoms and medications they associated closely with each other. Results showered a significant negative correlation between the geodetic distance (the number of links between objects in the Pathfinder network) separating symptoms and medications and frequency of pairing symptoms with medication. This provides evidence of the validity of the Pathfinder network. It was also seen that, higher the relatedness rating between symptoms and medications in Study 1, higher the frequency of pairing symptom to medication in Study 2, and the more directly linked those symptoms and medications were in the Pathfinder network. This network can inform pharmaceutical companies about which symptoms they most closely associate with, who their competitors are, what symptoms they can dominate, and how to market their medications more effectively.
patient recovery time. It is a surgical procedure done by using long reached tools and an
endoscopic camera to operate on the body though small incisions made near the point of
operation while viewing the live camera feed on a nearby display screen. Multiple camera
views are used in various industries such as surveillance and professional gaming to
allow users a spatial awareness advantage as to what is happening in the 3D space that is
presented to them on 2D displays. The concept has not effectively broken into the
medical industry yet. This thesis tests a multi-view camera system in which three cameras
are inserted into a laparoscopic surgical training box along with two surgical instruments,
to determine the system impact on spatial cognition, perceived cognitive workload, and
the overall time needed to complete the task, compared to one camera viewing the
traditional set up. The task is a non-medical task and is one of five typically used to train
surgeons’ motor skills when initially learning minimally invasive surgical procedures.
The task is a peg transfer and will be conducted by 30 people who are randomly assigned
to one of two conditions; one display and three displays. The results indicated that when
three displays were present the overall time initially using them to complete a task was
slower; the task was perceived to be completed more easily and with less strain; and
participants had a slightly higher performance rate.
Online learning has been more prevalent since the rapid increase of the technology field, this paper examines if the interactivity of an online learning website can affect learning, usability, and time spent interacting. Participants were collected from Amazon Mechanical Turk, and they were compensated $1.00 for their time. 39 participants received one of three online learning conditions on the ideal gas law with varying levels of interactivity (video, simulation, quiz). The participants took a pretest, interacted with their condition for a set time, then completed a posttest and a usability survey. An ANOVA was conducted on time, usability, and posttest transfer scores. A repeated measures ANOVA was conducted on pretest and posttest recall scores. There was no significance found for learning, usability, or time spent interacting with the online learning platform. Further studies should consider exposing participants to learning materials for longer periods of time.