{"title":"The Influence of Extended Reality on Climate Change Education","authors":"Mark H. Newton, Leonard A. Annetta","doi":"10.1007/s11191-024-00518-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate change is a nuanced global issue with a scope that is often difficult to fully appreciate. This study examined an undergraduate course focused on the impacts and responses to climate change on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, USA. The course utilized a socioscientific issues (SSI) approach to examine global climate change in a local context that allowed for a deeper understanding of the inequitable impacts on humans and the environment. As part of the class, students were immersed in a 6-day field experience in the Outer Banks to investigate the challenges facing the barrier islands where they visited five sites and used augmented reality (AR) to learn about the impact of climate change at those respected locations. After each experience, the course instructors debriefed with the students to help make sense of the experiences and promote deeper understanding of the issue. Four weeks later, the class immersed in virtual reality (VR) to revisit the same five sites using the same information provided in the AR. Using a constant comparative and inductive analyzes using keywords in context, results suggest both AR and VR enhanced learning experiences. Findings indicated that the students generally felt that the VR experience was a suitable alternative, with the caveat that it cannot replace being immersed in the location, that both technologies increased their engagement, and increased their learning. Conversely, some students reported that the technology impeded their learning.</p>","PeriodicalId":771,"journal":{"name":"Science & Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Science & Education","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-024-00518-y","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Climate change is a nuanced global issue with a scope that is often difficult to fully appreciate. This study examined an undergraduate course focused on the impacts and responses to climate change on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, USA. The course utilized a socioscientific issues (SSI) approach to examine global climate change in a local context that allowed for a deeper understanding of the inequitable impacts on humans and the environment. As part of the class, students were immersed in a 6-day field experience in the Outer Banks to investigate the challenges facing the barrier islands where they visited five sites and used augmented reality (AR) to learn about the impact of climate change at those respected locations. After each experience, the course instructors debriefed with the students to help make sense of the experiences and promote deeper understanding of the issue. Four weeks later, the class immersed in virtual reality (VR) to revisit the same five sites using the same information provided in the AR. Using a constant comparative and inductive analyzes using keywords in context, results suggest both AR and VR enhanced learning experiences. Findings indicated that the students generally felt that the VR experience was a suitable alternative, with the caveat that it cannot replace being immersed in the location, that both technologies increased their engagement, and increased their learning. Conversely, some students reported that the technology impeded their learning.
期刊介绍:
Science Education publishes original articles on the latest issues and trends occurring internationally in science curriculum, instruction, learning, policy and preparation of science teachers with the aim to advance our knowledge of science education theory and practice. In addition to original articles, the journal features the following special sections: -Learning : consisting of theoretical and empirical research studies on learning of science. We invite manuscripts that investigate learning and its change and growth from various lenses, including psychological, social, cognitive, sociohistorical, and affective. Studies examining the relationship of learning to teaching, the science knowledge and practices, the learners themselves, and the contexts (social, political, physical, ideological, institutional, epistemological, and cultural) are similarly welcome. -Issues and Trends : consisting primarily of analytical, interpretive, or persuasive essays on current educational, social, or philosophical issues and trends relevant to the teaching of science. This special section particularly seeks to promote informed dialogues about current issues in science education, and carefully reasoned papers representing disparate viewpoints are welcomed. Manuscripts submitted for this section may be in the form of a position paper, a polemical piece, or a creative commentary. -Science Learning in Everyday Life : consisting of analytical, interpretative, or philosophical papers regarding learning science outside of the formal classroom. Papers should investigate experiences in settings such as community, home, the Internet, after school settings, museums, and other opportunities that develop science interest, knowledge or practices across the life span. Attention to issues and factors relating to equity in science learning are especially encouraged.. -Science Teacher Education [...]