Project
description | The VRSS Project is an experimental undergraduate Astronomy course currently being taught at Indiana University (IU), Sasha Barab, and at the University of Georgia (UGA), Kenneth Hay. For this project we have completely transformed this traditional lecture based course into a constructionist course. Where previously listening to lectures constituted the primary learning activity, in the VRSS course listening to lectures is replaced by students building three VR models of different aspects of the solar system: 1. The Celestial Sphere, 2. The Earth Moon and Sun, and 3. The entire Solar System. Learners work in collaborative teams on high-end graphics computers with a VRML 2.0 WYSIWYG editor. In this environment, students build scale models of the solar system and do dynamic modeling with a key-frame animation tool. To aid in visualization of the student VR models, learners then take their solar system models into IU's CAVE or at UGA they will view their worlds with a HMD. This project will be one of the first educational applications of this technology at both universities. In addition to understanding how the use of these powerful modeling tools aid students in learning about astronomy (including the potential for minimizing common alternative conceptions associated with 2D representations), our research program has focused on knowledge generation and diffusion. Our research team has used video cameras to capture groups of students as they construct their VR worlds. In addition to the videotapes, student and teacher interviews, document analysis, field notes, and various tests provide a rich data base for analyses. Using a methodology refined during previous studies, our research team selects various facts, practices (tool and concept related), student productions (e.g., projects developed), and conceptual understandings to serve as tracers. We use these tracers to follow or trace how student understandings evolve over time. |