Collaboration,connectedness, and community: An examination of the factors influencing student persistence in virtual communities

Institutions of higher education are being called upon to provide a more robust pathway to a college degree and improve upon the advanced workforce for the needs of the 21st century. While active collaborative learning environments have been encouraged in higher education to improve student engagement, there is a gap in the literature when it comes to connecting the two research areas of collaborative learning and student intention to persist. This research fills this gap by creating and conducting research to examine a model that measures the factors that significantly influence a student's persistence in a virtual collaborative learning environment. The model examines how collaborative learning, campus connectedness, sense of community, organizational commitment, and turnover intention influence student persistence. The model was tested using a sample of students who participated in a virtual learning community (VLC) and the results suggest that all but one of the factors were found to significantly influence student persistence, with the final factor dependent on the number of hours of system usage. We discuss the implications of the research and the model for team-based theory and organizational practice in education and teamwork.     

Enhancing empathy instruction using a collaborative virtual learning environment for children with autistic spectrum conditions

Empathy is an essential part of normal social function that people with autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) lack. This study uses the intervention of enhancing empathy via 3D animated scenarios of empathy in a virtual learning environment to help those deficient in empathy. Specifically, this study explores the understanding of empathy, perspective-taking and the performance of understanding of empathy via a collaborative virtual learning environment (CVLE) - empathy system. The study, which used CVLE - 3D empathy systems and three participants diagnosed with ASCs, conducted multiple baseline research for evidence of improved understanding of empathy via system usage. This experimental study lasted 5 months and the experimental results indicate that using the CVLE 3D empathy system had significant and positive effects on participant use of empathy, both within the CVLE 3D empathy system and in terms of maintaining learning in understanding empathy.     

Role‐play virtual worlds for teaching object‐oriented design: the ViRPlay development experience

The use of game technology for building virtual learning environments is intended to improve the motivation and engagement of the student, borrowing such properties from their entertaining counterparts. Nevertheless, wrapping pedagogical contents in a virtual environment is no simple achievement, and requires a rigorous process of designing and validating the metaphors and mechanics included in the virtual learning system. In this paper we describe such design process exemplified in the construction of consecutive versions of ViRPlay, a 3D role play virtual environment for teaching object‐oriented design. We show how main mechanics were transferred from experiments in the real world and how such mechanics were evolved based on empirical evaluations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Innovative virtual and collaborative teaching methodologies

This collaborative research work between multiple universities demonstrates and rigorously analyses a number of innovative and new teaching methodologies that incorporate the use of new technology to encourage students to participate and take an active role in learning. More precisely, we introduce the ‘Automatic Virtual Lecturing’ teaching methodology which utilises live student feedback to dynamically reorder the lecture slides content of the teacher combined with an online video repository to substitute repeated lecture presentations both during and after class. We also present research outputs of our patented teaching concept SHARED and collaborative learning which creates a paperless collaborative learning environment in our classrooms where students can take virtual notes on their wooden tabletops, while the teacher can give instant feedback on student progress without leaving his personal desk. The methodologies were researched thoroughly in a number of classrooms which resulted in a significant increase in the performance of the students, showing real promise of such unique teaching methodologies.     

基于WEB的知识分布式合作学习系统的设计与实现

基于WEB的教学系统正在流行,但多数局限于学生孤独地浏览网上教材,缺乏依靠网络而形成的同学之间相互讨论和经验分享,因而无法吸引学生上网学习,使用效果并不理想。文章提出了基于WEB平台的“知识分布式合作学习”的概念,它通过网络建立合作工作环境（CSCW）,形成虚拟的合作学习群体,促使教师与学生、学生与学生经验共享、信息交、讨论问题。文章介绍了该系统的设计与实现。     

Smartphones or laptops in the collaborative classroom? A study of video-based learning in higher education

This paper explores how the use of smartphones vs. laptops influences students’ engagement, behaviour and experience watching academic videos in a collaborative classroom. Experiments were run in authentic teaching sessions with a total of 483 first-year higher education students. The methodology applied is a quasi-experimental design with post-test-only, being the independent variable, the device used to visualise the academic videos. Results indicate that the use of laptops has provided better results in terms of student’s engagement with the videos, their collaborative behaviour and satisfaction with the device. Hence, the findings of this research suggest that the type of mobile device used in activities that consider the use of videos in a collaborative class need to be carefully chosen to maximise the student’s comfortability – and in consequence, their engagement with the video-based learning activity and their positive behaviour and experience within the collaborative context.     

Reduced mental load in learning a motor visual task with virtual 3D method

Distance learning is expanding rapidly, fueled by the novel technologies for shared recorded teaching sessions on the Web. Here, we ask whether 3D stereoscopic (3DS) virtual learning environment teaching sessions are more compelling than typical two‐dimensional (2D) video sessions and whether this type of teaching results in superior learning. The research goal was to compare learning in 2 virtual learning scenarios—on 2D displays and with an identical 3DS scenario. Participants watched a 2D or 3DS video of an instructor demonstrating a box origami paper‐folding task. We compared participants' folding test scores and self‐assessment questionnaires of the teaching scenarios and calculated their cognitive load index (CLI) based on electroencephalogram measurements during the observation periods. Results showed a highly significant difference between participants' folding test scores, CLI, and self‐assessment questionnaire results in 2D compared to 3DS sessions. Our findings indicate that employing stereoscopic 3D technology over 2D displays in the design of emerging virtual and augmented reality applications in distance learning has advantages.     

Studying the effectiveness of multi-user immersive environments for collaborative evaluation tasks

Massively Multiuser On-line Learning (MMOL) Platforms, often called “virtual learning worlds”, constitute a still unexplored context for communication-enhanced learning, where synchronous communication skills in an explicit social setting enhance the potential of effective collaboration. In this paper, we report on an experimental study of collaborative evaluation in an MMOL setting with 21 graduate students enrolled in university courses in technology-mediated teaching and learning. This study was carried out using a prototype of a 3D MMOL platform built around an interactive space called “MadriPolis”. This space was used to recreate an adequate scenario for a collaborative experience about Learning Object evaluation using the mainstream Learning Object Review Instrument (LORI), which is based on a Convergent Participation Model (CPM). The same experience was carried out using a conventional LCMS (Learning Content Management System) platform with the aim of contrasting the outcomes and interaction patterns in the two settings. This study makes use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) measures to describe the interactions between tutors and learners. By dwelling on the advantages of immersive environments, SNA indexes revealed that these interactions were rather dense and that student participation was rather broad-based in the case of the MMOL. The results suggest that MMOL platforms could be used in collaborative evaluation tasks as a means to enhance both tutor interaction patterns and the strength of the group's relationship.     

Studying the effectiveness of multi-user immersive environments for collaborative evaluation tasks

Massively Multiuser On-line Learning (MMOL) Platforms, often called “virtual learning worlds”, constitute a still unexplored context for communication-enhanced learning, where synchronous communication skills in an explicit social setting enhance the potential of effective collaboration. In this paper, we report on an experimental study of collaborative evaluation in an MMOL setting with 21 graduate students enrolled in university courses in technology-mediated teaching and learning. This study was carried out using a prototype of a 3D MMOL platform built around an interactive space called “MadriPolis”. This space was used to recreate an adequate scenario for a collaborative experience about Learning Object evaluation using the mainstream Learning Object Review Instrument (LORI), which is based on a Convergent Participation Model (CPM). The same experience was carried out using a conventional LCMS (Learning Content Management System) platform with the aim of contrasting the outcomes and interaction patterns in the two settings. This study makes use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) measures to describe the interactions between tutors and learners. By dwelling on the advantages of immersive environments, SNA indexes revealed that these interactions were rather dense and that student participation was rather broad-based in the case of the MMOL. The results suggest that MMOL platforms could be used in collaborative evaluation tasks as a means to enhance both tutor interaction patterns and the strength of the group's relationship.     

The interactive use of a video database in teacher education: Creating a knowledge base for teaching through a learning community

This study explores how pre-service student teachers acquired knowledge of good teaching practices through the interactive use of a video database and an online discussion forum, where the student teachers shared their teaching videos and received comments or suggestions from members of a learning community. A small group of student teachers was involved in this collaborative learning community during their teaching practicum in their third and fourth years of study. Content analysis of the sharing in the discussion forum and individual student teacher reflections provides insight into the use of a collaborative learning community to create a knowledge base for teaching. Suggestions regarding how this new technology can support teacher education are discussed.     

Strategies for collaborative writing and phases of knowledge construction in CSCL environments

Within the framework of research that describes the processes of collaborative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments, the present work has three objectives: (i) the identification of the strategies of six small groups of university students for the elaboration of written products in a CSCL environment; (ii) seek relations between the identified writing strategies and the processes and phases of collaborative knowledge construction in the groups; and (iii) relate these strategies and phases with the learning results obtained by the groups. We carried out a multiple-case study, with the analysis of four different didactic sequences, in two different virtual learning and teaching settings. In each setting, three student groups were studied, where each had to collaboratively develop between four and eight written products. For all the studied groups, the analysis enabled the identification of five types of strategies in the preparation of the elaboration of written products, and four types of phases of collaborative knowledge construction, which are interrelated and also connected with the grades that the groups obtained in each case.     

Strategies for collaborative writing and phases of knowledge construction in CSCL environments

Within the framework of research that describes the processes of collaborative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments, the present work has three objectives: (i) the identification of the strategies of six small groups of university students for the elaboration of written products in a CSCL environment; (ii) seek relations between the identified writing strategies and the processes and phases of collaborative knowledge construction in the groups; and (iii) relate these strategies and phases with the learning results obtained by the groups. We carried out a multiple-case study, with the analysis of four different didactic sequences, in two different virtual learning and teaching settings. In each setting, three student groups were studied, where each had to collaboratively develop between four and eight written products. For all the studied groups, the analysis enabled the identification of five types of strategies in the preparation of the elaboration of written products, and four types of phases of collaborative knowledge construction, which are interrelated and also connected with the grades that the groups obtained in each case.     

Online site visits using virtual collaborative spaces: A plan-reading activity on a digital building site

Site visits or field trips have been a tool utilized by construction educators to engage students in active learning, assist traditional lessons, and attain stronger and deeper student learning experiences. Nevertheless, site visits present major logistical and accessibility challenges for educational institutions and instructors, reducing the number of students that have access to the benefits of such a technique. The limitations for site visits have further broadened recently, as the reality of the COVID-19 public health concerns has forced educators to move to online course delivery quickly and the majority of site visits have been canceled. The research goal of this paper is to present construction students with opportunities to enable online location-independent site visits where contextualized learning is dangerous, unsafe, or impossible to achieve. In this project, a virtual online learning environment was created to offer the affordances that provide an in-depth learning experience through collaborative communication for a plan-reading activity in a virtual space that resembles a real-world site visit to a building facility. This virtual online learning environment helped students to experience the physical and social aspects of the site visit while getting a collaborative opportunity to practice their plan-reading skills. A comparative study with a business-as-usual condition (online delivery through Zoom®) was conducted and the students’ plan-reading performance and their feedback on the sense of presence, social presence, fatigue, and system usability was reported. The outcome of the study shows that such virtual collaborative site visits present unique opportunities to enable online delivery of spatiotemporal contexts of sites and offer an effective remote alternative when these learning opportunities are not available.     

An investigation of coopetitive pedagogic design for knowledge creation in Web-based learning

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have created a supportive environment for collaborative learning at the expense of student motivation and engagement. This study attempts to explore the development of a productive learning atmosphere in the context of Web-based learning. An experiment is conducted with university-level students having homogenous background and coursework by applying heterogeneous pedagogies that create either competitive or collaborative learning atmospheres. The differences in learning atmosphere bring about variations in social presence and enjoyment of learning. The findings show that “coopetition” (defined as collaboration within the group and competition between groups) was the best learning strategy because competition and collaboration stimulated different types of knowledge growth in the knowledge-creation spiral. Competitive learning atmospheres encourage students to develop higher analytic skills, while collaborative learning atmospheres prompt students to demonstrate higher synthetic skills. Because both atmospheres contribute to learning, this study has found that combining both pedagogies in constructing a coopetitive learning atmosphere not only contributes to analytic and synthetic skills, but also raises the overall knowledge level. The findings pinpointed the importance of creating a learning environment that integrates ICTs, learners’ backgrounds, courseware, and pedagogic considerations in the process of increasing knowledge levels.     

Inspiring equal contribution and opportunity in a 3d multi-user virtual environment: Bringing together men gamers and women non-gamers in Second Life

A 3D multi-user virtual environment holds promise to support and enhance student online learning communities due to its ability to promote global synchronous interaction and collaboration, rich multisensory experience and expression, and elaborate design capabilities. Second Life^®, a multi-user virtual environment intended for adult users 18 and older, is the most cited in educational literature, so it is important to explore how college-aged students are using it to form online learning communities. Previous research suggests that there is unbalanced participation between traditional college-aged men and women with regards to 3D multi-user video games, which closely resemble Second Life^®. In this research study, we investigated in what manner women and men college students projected their virtual identities and engaged in interaction in Second Life^®, and how this influenced their learning of course content. Analysis of multiple data sources revealed that conceptions of identity, beliefs of the nature of the virtual world, and technical skill were primary factors which affected group cohesion and learning within the community. Results from this study can provide insight into the class activities that can support all learners in accessing and contributing to the multi-user virtual environment learning community.     

Teaching training in a mixed-reality integrated learning environment

In this mixed-method study, we examined the design and potential impact of a mixed-reality integrated learning environment (MILE) in providing the simulated and immersive teaching practice for university teaching assistants. A virtual-reality-based learning platform integrating a Kinect-enabled sensorimotor interface was developed and used by twenty three university teaching assistants. Qualitative and quantitative data on the participants' participation behaviors, engagement, and perceptions were collected via video/screen recording, interview, surveys on teaching self-efficacy and sense of presence, and eye tracking. Results indicated that the MILE reinforced sense of presence and supported the performance of an ample range of virtual teaching tasks/actions with avatar-embodied live gesturing. The environmental fidelity in the mixed-reality learning spaces, the design and arrangement of virtual agents and avatars, and the affordance of embodied gesturing and walking are salient MILE design features that affected participants' sense of presence and their virtual teaching performance.     

Student engagement with simulations: a case study

A case study of student engagement with simulations in a materials engineering course is presented. The aim of the work was to better understand the characteristics of simulations which support learning: the attributes, qualities, and circumstances of their use which lead to improved understanding . Simulations were introduced into the teaching of engineering heat transfer in 2000 and were modified for 2001 based on feedback received in 2000. The response of the two student cohorts to the simulations were recorded by observation and questioning during class sessions, questionnaires administered before, during, and after the teaching period, and by informal interviews after the teaching period. The responses of the two cohorts on the final questionnaire were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test. The features which were found in the current study to be important for engagement were: complexity of the simulation; the learning environment as a whole (as distinct from simply the software), and overcoming the ‘barrier’ of navigational opacity. Allowing sufficient time for engagement to develop was found to be critical to achieving learning outcomes. Significantly, the study highlights the need to differentiate carefully between the replication of a scenario and the provision of a simulation designed with learning as the primary goal. The objective of the simulation must be congruent with the objective of the learner, and must support the learner's objective.     

The structure of student engagement in online learning: A bi-factor exploratory structural equation modelling approach

Enhancing student engagement plays a critical role in reducing student drop-out rate in online learning as students usually feel isolated and disconnected in this learning environment. This requires a clear conceptualization of the student engagement construct and its underlying structure. However, the conceptual understanding of the student engagement construct has long been impeded by the inconsistency in its multidimensional structure and the conceptual ambiguity among its components. This study aims to examine the underlying structure of student engagement in online learning based on the bi-factor exploratory structure equation modelling framework (B-ESEM). Four competing models representing the underlying structure of student engagement in online learning were compared based on their degree of fit to survey data from 363 students in an online undergraduate program. Students' responses to the online learning engagement questionnaire were best represented by a B-ESEM model that provided simultaneous assessment of a global engagement factor and specific factors of behavioural, cognitive, affective and social engagement while controlling for item cross-loadings. However, behavioural engagement only retained limited specificity once the global engagement factor was taken into account. The study findings offer a solution to reconcile the inconsistency in the multidimensional structure of student engagement and reduce the conceptual ambiguity among its components, thus contribute to better measuring student engagement in online learning.     

Gamified learning through unity 3D in visualizing environments

Gamified learning has been proven to have the potential for promoting the quality of learning by better engaging students in the learning process. The goal of this study is to create an immersive 3D learning environment where a game is integrated into virtual exhibitions so as to inspire high-school students’ motivation and raise learning performance in humanities courses. In this paper, we developed a framework of virtual exhibitions by combining Unity game engine with a novel 3D JanusVR browser. The survey results from a group of students, whose ages range between 15 and 16, indicate that the proposed virtual exhibitions efficiently capture the attention of students and improve interests to learn history in comparison with traditional teaching and online webpages.

     

Using clickers in class. The role of interactivity,active collaborative learning and engagement in learning performance

As more and more educational institutions are integrating new technologies (e.g. audience response systems) into their learning systems to support the learning process, it is becoming increasingly necessary to have a thorough understanding of the underlying mechanisms of these advanced technologies and their consequences on student learning performance. In this study, our primary objective is to investigate the effect of clickers (i.e. audience response systems) on student learning performance. To do so, we develop a conceptual framework in which we propose that interactivity, active collaborative learning and engagement are three key underlying forces that explain the positive effects and benefits of clickers in enhancing student learning performance. We test these relationships empirically in a university class setting using data from a survey answered by students in a social sciences degree. The results provide strong support for our proposed framework and they reveal that the high level of interactivity with peers and with the teacher that is promoted by the use of clickers positively influences active collaborative learning and engagement, which, in turn, improves student learning performance. These results show the importance of clickers in improving the student learning experience and recommend their use in educational settings to support the learning process.