Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day

The adoption of immersive virtual reality (I-VR) as a pedagogical method in education has challenged the conceptual definition of what constitutes a learning environment. High fidelity graphics and immersive content using head-mounted-displays (HMD) have allowed students to explore complex subjects in a way that traditional teaching methods cannot. Despite this, research focusing on learning outcomes, intervention characteristics, and assessment measures associated with I-VR use has been sparse. To explore this, the current systematic review examined experimental studies published since 2013, where quantitative learning outcomes using HMD based I-VR were compared with less immersive pedagogical methods such as desktop computers and slideshows. A literature search yielded 29 publications that were deemed suitable for inclusion. Included papers were quality assessed using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI). Most studies found a significant advantage of utilising I-VR in education, whilst a smaller number found no significant differences in attainment level regardless of whether I-VR or non-immersive methods were utilised. Only two studies found clear detrimental effects of using I-VR. However, most studies used short interventions, did not examine information retention, and were focused mainly on the teaching of scientific topics such as biology or physics. In addition, the MERSQI showed that the methods used to evaluate learning outcomes are often inadequate and this may affect the interpretation of I-VR’s utility. The review highlights that a rigorous methodological approach through the identification of appropriate assessment measures, intervention characteristics, and learning outcomes is essential to understanding the potential of I-VR as a pedagogical method.

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Immersive virtual reality as a pedagogical tool in education: a systematic literature review of quantitative learning outcomes and experimental design

Psychogenesis and the History of Science

Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement, International Society for Technology in Education: Eugene, Oregon and Washington, DC, 2014; 169 pp.: ISBN 978-1-56484-344-9There are two main reasons for the book Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement being an interesting read. The first is that the book discusses a relatively new concept, dating back to only 2006. The second is that it is written by the pioneers of the concept of flipped learning. Both reasons add to high expectations for this book.The authors of the book, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, both have teaching experience and were in fact colleagues when they started developing the idea of flipped learning. They were both teaching high school chemistry and shared a common vision: 'to put our students first so they could develop both cognitively and affectively' (p. ix). From their initial collaboration and the idea of flipping, stemmed a numerous online community of educators interested in flipping their teaching, the Flipped Learning Network (flippedclassroom.org) with a membership of over 20,000 in 2014.The book Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement is divided into two halves. In the first four chapters, the authors explain their background and aim to persuade the reader about the efficiency of the presented concept. Bergmann and Sams substantiate their thesis of flipped learning being a unique experience for each teacher and their class by including stories from a wide range of subject matter teachers, such as math, chemistry, physical education, biology, history, English and science (Chapters 5 to 11). There is also a story by a primary school fifth-grade teacher who flips her classes (Chapter 12) and a story of flipping professional development courses for teachers (Chapter 13). The final chapter summarises the teachers' stories, reviews the benefits of flipping, and even suggests that school administrators should flip their staff meetings to make better use of face-to-face time and thus empower teachers.The book cover presents the book as a 'revolutionary education philosophy' taken to the next level. This refers to Bergmann and Sams' previous book, Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day (2012), in which the authors focused mainly on producing high-quality videos for students, while in Flipped Learning, the classroom is truly student-centred and the teacher individualises instruction in order to engage each student. The book offers a general introductory look into the concept of flipped learning and indicates possible further exploration. The authors have expanded these primary notions by writing four more books dedicated to different subjects of flipping - a book series that supports flipped learning in five topic areas: science, math, English, social studies, and the elementary classroom.Bergmann and Sams define flipped learning as an instructional model in which direct instruction is delivered individually through videos. The amount of whole-class instruction is minimised and time and space are given to other student grouping forms and activities, such as problem-based learning, discussion, inquiry, project work, etc. Throughout the book, the 'One Question' that the authors pose in the Introduction, is a common thread and this question is "What is the best use of face-to-face time with students?" (p. 3). Bergmann and Sams insist that this is the question that is the core of flipped learning and one that each teacher should ask constantly. Moreover, they believe each teacher should provide a unique and individual answer to it, according to the needs of their own students.The concept of flipped learning appeared in 2006 and has passed several developmental stages since then, which also affected the terminological aspect of the concept. Originally, the concept of the flipped classroom, as it was then called, was based on the use of video as a medium of content transfer, while the teacher was at the centre of instruction. …

Flipped Learning: Gateway to Student Engagement

There has been a surge in interest and implementation of immersive virtual reality (IVR)-based lessons in education and training recently, which has resulted in many studies on the topic. There are recent reviews which summarize this research, but little work has been done that synthesizes the existing findings into a theoretical framework. The Cognitive Affective Model of Immersive Learning (CAMIL) synthesizes existing immersive educational research to describe the process of learning in IVR. The general theoretical framework of the model suggests that instructional methods which are based on evidence from research with less immersive media generalize to learning in IVR. However, the CAMIL builds on evidence that media interacts with method. That is, certain methods which facilitate the affordances of IVR are specifically relevant in this medium. The CAMIL identifies presence and agency as the general psychological affordances of learning in IVR, and describes how immersion, control factors, and representational fidelity facilitate these affordances. The model describes six affective and cognitive factors that can lead to IVR-based learning outcomes including interest, motivation, self-efficacy, embodiment, cognitive load, and self-regulation. The model also describes how these factors lead to factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer. Implications for future research and instructional design are proposed.

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The Cognitive Affective Model of Immersive Learning (CAMIL): a Theoretical Research-Based Model of Learning in Immersive Virtual Reality

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of emotional induction and level of immersion on knowledge acquisition and motivation. Two conditions were used for immersion modulation: a high immersive condition, which consisted of the viewing of educational content through a head-mounted-display; and a low immersive condition, which was achieved through direct viewing on a tablet. The emotional conditions, created through video simulation, consisted of a positive versus neutral mood induction procedure. The participants were 56 high school students enrolled on a social science course. The results indicate a significant effect of the positive emotion/high immersive condition in knowledge acquisition while positive emotion induction had a positive effect on the interest subscale of the motivation assessment tool used for both immersive conditions.

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J. Ferreira-Cavalcanti

Papers

Mobile Virtual Reality as an Educational Platform: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Immersion and Positive Emotion Induction in the Learning Process