The Use of Measurement and Neuroimaging to Examine the Learning Affordances of Virtual Reality

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Examining Learning While
Using Virtual Reality
Presented By:
Richard Lamb, University at Buffalo
Rebekah Lamb, Enterprise Charter School
Armin St. George, Crosswater Digital Media

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Background
• Information and computer technologies are considered some of the most powerful
teaching tools used to support student learning in the sciences (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich,
2013).
• Education has increased the focus on the use of cognitive strategies in the higher
education classroom to train and teach.
• This increased focus has created the need to examine claims regarding “cognitive”
pedagogical approaches and the technologies to support them.

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Background
• The capstone of most teacher preparation programs is the inclusion of field experiences
for preservice science teachers.
• The purpose of these experiences is to expose those wishing to teach to the complexity
and unpredictability of the classrooms in which they will be expected to practice.
• Since the early millennium there has been increasing attention placed on modes of
instruction that can supply greater realism and immersion.
• The technology to make VR environments nearly indistinguishable from reality is now
possible.

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Questions to the audience.
• Why might VR support teaching and learning in this manner?
• What does VR offer that other modes do not?
• What else do you need to support learning in VR outside of the VR itself?
• What other contexts might you apply this technology and pedagogy?

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Background
Field experiences for preservice science teachers rest on two key assumptions;
1) inservice science teacher modeling of science teaching during field experiences
creates opportunities for learning;
2) field experiences alone are sufficient in providing opportunities for preservice
science teachers to combine theory and practice (Lotter, Smiley, Thompson, & Dickerson, 2016).

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Problem Context
• While the elements of the assumptions guide student teaching are good, the variability in
the experiences of preservice science teachers moderates the degree to which these
assumptions are met.
• Factors that mediate the success or shortcoming of various technologies in education
are often taken for granted and left unexamined (Ellis & Goodyear, 2016).
• Specifically, policy makers and leaders in the field often assume that all technology
formats are equally effective at reaching students in the classroom.
• Stakeholders often assume that “hand-ons” activities are superior to virtual environments
(Zimmerman & Croker, 2014).

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Mission
The mission of the Neurocognition Science Laboratory (NCSL) at the Graduate School of
Education at the University at Buffalo North campus is to investigate and understand all
aspects of cognitive growth and decline across the lifespan.
This research mission draws together an interdisciplinary team of graduate students and
researchers across the nation and situates the NCSL as a key driver in meeting the
strategic goals of the University at Buffalo.
Provides a hub for interdisciplinary research the NCSL is collaborates with related schools
and centers at UB.

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fNIRs is a functional neuroimaging tool that is optimal for probing
localized hemodynamic responses in cortex
EEG is a test that detects electrical activity in your brain using small,
flat, metal discs (electrodes) attached to your scalp.

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Imaging • Electroencephalography (EEG)
• Functional Near Infrared
Spectroscopy (fNIRs)

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Psychophysiological
Measurement • Electrocardiography
• Pulse
• Electroderm Activity
• Skin Temperature
• Respiration
• Continuous Blood Pressure

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Eye tracking
• Binocular Viewpoint Scene Camera and
Eye tracker

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Purpose and Questions
• The purpose of this study is to compare, and characterize interactive VR based preservice
science teacher teaching environments with those of real-life teaching environments.
• These measures will provide means to understand if cognitive processing, sensory and
psychological immersion are significantly different between real-world environments and
sufficiently authentic VR environments.
• Identification of differences or lack of differences will provide the basis and evidence for
increased use of VR environments and their underlying pedagogical approaches in
preservice science teacher education programs.
• Outcomes will provide evidence for potential transferability of skills between VR and real-
classroom approaches.

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Approaches
• Fifty-four healthy, college students, 13 males and 41 females, were randomly assigned to
either clinical field conditions or VR conditions.
• The classroom condition was recorded for the VR condition using a high-end VR camera
with 4K resolution and overlaid with Unity code to create interactivity.

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Approaches
• In filming we made use of seventh grade students enrolled in an urban charter school in
the North Eastern United States.
• The school is a full service K-8 school with approximately 435 students. The school itself is
a charter school, one of the oldest in the area. School demographics consist of 68%
African American, 31% Hispanic, and 1% Caucasian. Approximately 10% of the student
population is classified as special education and 100% of the population receives free and
reduced lunch. Students pass rates on state examines are typically in the mid to upper
teens on end of course state exams.

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Methods
Each participant’s activities were divided into three phases.
Phase I: pre-exposure that lasted for 10 Minutes;
Phase II: exposure for each scenario lasted for a maximum of 25 minutes per participant;
Phase III: post exposure lasted for 10 Minutes.

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Methods
• During the exposure stage, the preservice science teachers were measured under one of the
two conditions, classroom or VR.
• The instruction the preservice teachers gave was the same for both conditions. Completion of
each condition was timed and had a ten-minute waiting period that allowed the hemodynamic
and physiological response signal to return to baseline conditions (Afergan, Peck, Solovey, Jenkins, Hincks,
Brown, & Jacob, 2014).
• The identification of the type of processing associated with the participant’s activities in the
classroom and VR were measured through physiological response and correlated
retrospective survey outcomes.
• An increase in cognitive dynamics directly relates to an increase in the amount of cognitive
processing, while other physiological measures were used to establish immersion and stress
levels (Afergan, Peck, Solovey, Jenkins, Hincks, Brown, & Jacob, 2014).

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Methods
During the exposure stage, the preservice science teachers were measured under one of the two
conditions, classroom or VR. The instruction the preservice teachers gave was the same for both
conditions.
The identification of the type of processing associated with the participant’s activities in the
classroom and VR were measured through physiological response and correlated retrospective
survey outcomes.
An increase in cognitive dynamics directly relates to an increase in the amount of cognitive
processing, while other physiological measures were used to establish immersion and stress
levels (Afergan, Peck, Solovey, Jenkins, Hincks, Brown, & Jacob, 2014).

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Results
• Conditions were not significantly different in terms of the retrospective engagement
survey, psychological measures, and composite neuroimaging.
• Hemodynamic response and physiological response for both groups were significantly
above baseline.
• Comparison of standardized activation of composite image location in Phase II
Location of activation across conditions did not differ.

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Results
Figure 2. Composite Heart Rate Data
Figure 1. Composite activations across conditions

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Results
Figure 3. Composite Galvanic Skin Response
Figure 4. Survey of Engagement Results

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While the use of VR as a professional preparation tool has not been explored, this research illustrates it may be
a tool that holds potential for enhancing their clinical preparation prior to entering the real world.
The use of VR as a means to provide initial clinical experiences for the development and training of preservice
teachers provides repeated practice of targeted skills without adverse effects with actual students.
In particular the preservice teacher may compare approaches and iterate the development of these approaches
more quickly i.e. in the span of hours as opposed over a semester or year.
My Thoughts

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Perhaps more importantly the flexibility of scheduling and ability of preservice teachers to access a “classroom”
at any time without prior arrangement and scheduling.
Lastly, in addition to the ability to record preservice students in a traditional means for assessments, the digital
nature of VR allows for standardization of scenarios for self, peer, and program based assessments of
pedagogical and management skills all of which can be embedded in the VR scenario and underlying program.
My Thoughts

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• For Schools?
• For Resource Constrained Environments?
• For Knowledge Applications
• For Games as Learning Support Tools?
• For Games as Teaching Support Tools?
What are your thoughts?

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What does the project look like?
Maybe this?

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THANK YOU,
QUESTIONS?
Author for Correspondence is:
Richard Lamb
Director Neurocognition Science Laboratory
218 Baldy Hall
Amherst, NY 14260
rllamb@buffalo.edu
716-645-4057

The Use of Measurement and Neuroimaging to Examine the Learning Affordances of Virtual Reality

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