Mixed-reality Learning Environments: What Happens When You Move from a Laboratory to a Classroom?
Barbara A. King, Carmen Petrick Smith · International Journal of Research in Education and Science · 2018
The advent ofmotion-controlled technologies has unlocked new possibilities for body-basedlearning in the mathematics classroom. For example, mixed-reality learning environments allow students theopportunity to embody a mathematical concept while simultaneously beingprovided a visual interface that represents their movement. In the current study, we created amixed-reality environment to help children learn about angle measurement, andwe investigated similarities and differences in learning between students whocompleted the activity individually during a one-on-one interview and studentswho observed others complete the activity during whole-class instruction. Pre- and post-assessment results showed thatstudents in both settings learned at similar rates. Additionally, we analyzed the language usedduring the activity and found that students in the individual setting used morespatial language early in the activity, while students in the whole-classsetting used more metaphors. Thisfinding was likely due to differences in the perspectives students have whenphysically engaging with the angle compared to the perspective when observingsomeone else engage with the embodied-interaction.