Determining virtual environment "fit": The relationship between navigation style in a virtual field trip, student self-reported desire to visit the field trip site in the real world, and the purposes of science education

Tutwiler, M. S.; Lin, M. C.; Chang, C. Y.

Determining virtual environment "fit": The relationship between navigation style in a virtual field trip, student self-reported desire to visit the field trip site in the real world, and the purposes of science education

Date

2013-06-01

Authors

Tutwiler, M. S.

Lin, M. C.

Chang, C. Y.

Publisher

Springer Netherlands

Abstract

In this study, a follow-up analysis of the data reported in Lin et al. (Learn Media Technol. doi: 10.1080/17439884.2011.629660, 2011), we investigated the relationship between student use of a virtual field trip (VFT) system and the probability of students reporting wanting to visit the national park site upon which the VFT was modeled, controlling for content knowledge and prior visits to the park. Students who were able to navigate the VFT in teams were more likely than their peers who had the system demonstrated by a teacher to want to visit the national park. In addition, students with higher pre-intervention content knowledge were more likely to want to visit the national park than their peers with lower pre-test scores, in both the teacher demonstration and student co-navigation conditions.