From VR as genre to VR as learner agency : leveraging virtual reality learning for understanding climate change

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract
As VR becomes increasingly mainstream due to lowering hardware costs and increased access to VR content, it becomes critical to fill the gap in learning sciences literature that explains how this content may be developed in alignment with targeted learning outcomes. It also becomes imperative to study the integration of VR outside the laboratory—such as in real-world K-12 learning environments—in ways that might promote sustained long-term use. The first set of contributions of this dissertation is to demystify the ambiguity in findings on learning with VR and identify the holes in the literature on the learning affordances of immersive VR in education research. This includes identifying key areas for future research that align with the core objectives of the learning sciences and technology design (LSTD) field and motivating deeper collaboration across fields of expertise. At the same time, this dissertation builds upon prior work in climate change education to develop new designs, theories, and findings for creating VR learning curricula and advancing conversational learning with virtual reality climate change field trips. The work also contributes to an agenda of prioritizing the creation of VR learning content for similar meritorious social purposes. Ultimately, the gold standard for an immersive VR experience is to cause behavior change and not stay limited to belief change. To this end, the dissertation unpacks the relationship between learner agency with VR and climate change knowledge, skills, and attitudes, including the specific features of the learning experience that differentiate between having an effect on belief versus having an effect on behavior. This work aims to serve as a stepping stone for conducting a more thorough needs assessment into other domains where such a VR experience may engage a global audience of users on an issue of global significance (such as climate change), possibly aligning our objectives with the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The vision is to leverage the potentialities and affordances of this new media technology to move various stakeholders toward solutions that incorporate collective action-oriented perspectives.

Description

Type of resource text
Form electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource
Extent 1 online resource.
Place California
Place [Stanford, California]
Publisher [Stanford University]
Copyright date 2023; ©2023
Publication date 2023; 2023
Issuance monographic
Language English

Creators/Contributors

Author Vishwanath, Aditya
Degree supervisor Pea, Roy D
Thesis advisor Pea, Roy D
Thesis advisor Ardoin, Nicole M. (Nicole Michele)
Thesis advisor Bailenson, Jeremy
Degree committee member Ardoin, Nicole M. (Nicole Michele)
Degree committee member Bailenson, Jeremy
Associated with Stanford University, Graduate School of Education

Subjects

Genre Theses
Genre Text

Bibliographic information

Statement of responsibility Aditya Vishwanath.
Note Submitted to the Graduate School of Education.
Thesis Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023.
Location https://purl.stanford.edu/vy198xf8549

Access conditions

Copyright
© 2023 by Aditya Vishwanath
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

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