iLRN2021 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network

Posters

Integrated Reading Assistance in an Immersive Environment
Kojiro Yano
Osaka Institute of Technology, Japan

Relationship between Perceptions and Experiences on the Performance of Students in a Serious Game
Chioma Udeozor
Newcastle University, United Kingdom
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Virtual Learning for Virtual Times across the SUNY System
Roberta Sullivan(1), Alyssa Indelicato(2), Eileen O'Connor(3), Nicole Simon(5), Cynthia Tysick(6)
1: University at Buffalo, United States of America; 2: SUNY Upstate Medical University, United States of America; 3: Empire State College, United States of America; 5: Nassau Community College, United States of America; 6: University at Buffalo, United States of America
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Developing a Portfolio of Tools for Teaching Digital Logic
Harry Keith Edwards
University of Hawaii at Hilo, United States of America
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Game Design Informed by Learning Progressions for Science Practices
Shari Metcalf(1), Amanda Sommi(1), Sima Haddadin(1), Jennifer Scianna(2), David Gagnon(2)
1: Harvard University; 2: University of Wisconsin

Design and Evaluation of Mixed Reality Based Cybersecurity Curriculum for Middle School Students
Yan-Ming Chiou, Chrystalla Mouza, Teomara Rutherford, Chien-Chung Shen
University of Delaware, United States of America

Plant Cell Biology Education Using Advanced 3D Technologies for K-12 Students
Sayuri Tanabashi
The University of Tokyo, Japan

Virtual Geoscience Field Trip for Improved Physical Accessibility and Spatio-Temporal Reasoning
Matthew Donnelly(1), Adaobi Nebuwa(2), Jaclyn Baughman(1), Stacy Doore(2)
1: Bowdoin College, United States of America; 2: Colby College, United States of America
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Design Method of a Real-time Monitoring System for ICT Evaluation Process in Education Based on CesiumJS 3D Visualization
Chen Wu(1), Meng Chen(1), Di Wu(1), Jiman Ma(1), Jian Xu(1), Binbin Ma(2)
1: Central China Normal University, China, People's Republic of China; 2: South-Central University for Nationalities, China, People's Republic of China
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Language, Culture, and Heritage: The VR experience The Book of Distance and teaching the Family Folklore Project
Charles Willam MacQuarrie, Rachel Rebecca Tatro-Duarte
California State University Bakersfield, United States of America

Specific Heat of Water Experiment: Augmented Reality Chemistry Lab
Ryan Wirjadi, Alex Vuong, Frank Liu, Robert LiKamWa
Arizona State University, United States of America
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Building WaterWays: Investigating AR for Environmental Education
Corinne Brenner, Jessica Ochoa Hendrix, Mande Holford
Killer Snails, United States of America

Watershed Explorers: Designing a Virtual Reality Game to Promote Local Watershed Literacy
Robson Araujo-Junior(1), Alec Bodzin(1), Thomas Hammond(1), David Anastasio(1), Beigie Lam(1), Jeremy Mack(1), Daphne Mayer(2), Robert Neitz(3), Kathryn Semmens(4), Chad Schwartz(5), Jason Slipp(1)
1: Lehigh University, United States of America; 2: Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor National Canal Museum, United States of America; 3: Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, United States of America; 4: Nurture Nature Center, United States of America; 5: Lehigh Gap Nature Center, United States of America
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Improve Spatial Learning by Chunking Navigation Instructions in Mixed Reality
Bing Liu(1), Zhicheng Zhan(2)
1: Technical University of Munich, Germany; 2: Ghent University, Belgium

Mathstation: A Grade School Math Supplement Serious Game
Jonathan Borowski, David Plecher
TU Munich, Germany

AR-supported Collaborative Game for Understanding Complex Systems
Man Su
Arizona State University, United States of America

Presentations

COVIDCampus Game: Making Safer Choices
Mina C. Johnson-Glenberg(1), Mehmet Kosa(2), Don Balanzat(2), Ricardo Nieland Zavala(2), Xavier Apostal(2), Jude Rayan(2), Hector Taylor(2), Hannah Bartolomea(2), Kapadia Anoosh(2)
1: Arizona State University and Embodied Games, United States of America; 2: Arizona State University, Tempe, United States of America
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This article highlights several game design choices made during the creation of a browser-based game on mitigation strategies for Covid-19. Additionally, it presents a within group comparison of learning gains and self-reported behavioral changes after playing the game. Results show that the short COVIDCampus game has the potential to change college-age players’ Covid-19 related mitigation behaviors and it significantly increased players’ confidence in asking important health-related questions (Cohen’s d = .27). Some implications are discussed.

A Medical Ontology Informed, User Experience Taxonomy To Support Co-creative Workflows for Authoring Mixed Reality Medical Education Spaces.
Panagiotis E. Antoniou(1), Evaggelos Chondrokostas(2), Charalampos Bratsas(2,3), Panagiotis Filippidis(2), Panagiotis Bamidis(1)
1: Medical Physics Lab, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; 2: Open Knowledge Foundation Greece; 3: Mathematics Dept, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
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Curriculum size constantly challenges healthcare education and training. Technology enhanced, immersive educational content like Virtual, Augmented, or Mixed Reality (VR/AR/MR collectively XR) constantly aims to facilitate knowledge retention and skills acquisition in the healthcare sector. Core challenge in this effort is the increasing costs, in time and resources, required for designing and developing XR immersive educational content. An approach to address this challenge is participatory design methods. Co-creation approaches distribute the burden of content development amongst the educators’ community and facilitate decentralized bottoms-up content creation. This approach requires data modeling approaches that facilitate digital asset discoverability, reusability and consumption through visual authoring tools. This work describes the conceptualization and implementation of a UX taxonomy for annotating immersive AR/VR/MR content at the asset level for maximum repurposing capacity. A brainstorming session between educational and technology experts was conducted and conceptual details of the terms of the taxonomy were described. The Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) vocabulary was utilized to organize this devised taxonomy and link it with existing medical ontology terms, formulating an RDF endpoint of the nominated ENTICE ontology. This ontology was able to link medical terms with UX and educational properties in a data structure that can annotate and contextually encapsulate any XR digital asset. An example such term is described and presented as proof of application. The semantic modelling implemented in this work is directly applicable to a previously proposed visual data structure and subsequent authoring environment that could facilitate XR resource design and authoring from non-technical experts.

Presentations

Modeling Teacher Use of Virtual Reality Simulations in Nursing Education Using Epistemic Network Analysis
Mamta Shah(1), Amanda L Siebert-Evenstone(2), Brendan R Eagan(2), Roxanne Holthaus(1)
1: Elsevier; 2: University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Simulations are widely adopted in undergraduate nursing education because they offer low-risk, experiential ways to expose pre-licensure students to clinical environments, and to situate the development of requisite knowledge and skills for patient care. Virtual reality (VR) simulations present novel opportunities for clinical education; as such, research in this area is burgeoning around questions related to perception, adoption, and outcomes. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of epistemic network analysis, a quantitative ethnography technique, to model how one nursing educator facilitated clinical judgment and nurtured quality and safety education for nurses’ competencies through the use of Simulation Learning System with Virtual Reality (SLS with VR). We modeled the discourse obtained from three simulation sessions in October and November 2020, all involving a fundamental scenario requiring second-year nursing students to practice basic assessment and care management. Our work aims to advance research in medical and health education, particularly nursing education, using immersive learning environments by way of applying theory-backed learning analytic techniques.


CureQuest: A Digital Game for New Drug Discovery
Ben Chang, Shawn Lawson, Kathleen Ruiz, Mei Si
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States of America
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CureQuest is an educational adventure game about Clinical Translational Therapeutics, the process of discovery and development of new medical treatments, drugs, devices, and therapies. The game is being developed through a collaboration between faculty and students from a game design program and those from a medical school, with the goal of raising awareness and improving collaboration in the "bench to bedside" process. CureQuest aims to address this gap, first with medical students and ultimately for a general audience, with a game that instills wonder and inspires players with the challenges of drug discovery. In addition to the impact of the game when completed, the development process itself presents a novel case study in integrating the interdisciplinary fields of game development and “team science”. We present the current version of the game in development; the unique design challenges presented by the project; and the evolution of our collaborative process.

Presentations

Engagement in In-Game Questionnaires - Perspectives from Users and Experts
Alexander Steinmaurer, Martin Sackl, Christian Gütl
Graz University of Technology, Austria
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Questionnaires are important instruments to gather information from people in a wide range of application scenarios, such as analyzing the responses for evaluations, collecting preferences, or retrieving self-estimations in learning settings. However, based on the setting and design of a questionnaire participating can be boring or frustrating and consequently have a negative impact on results or disengage users. Literature reports negative findings in immersive simulations and learning games, where assessment and questionnaires are provided outside the learning experience. In this paper, we introduce an approach to integrate questionnaires into a game environment. Thereby, we want to provide learners with an engaging way to answer questions. To encourage them in participating, they receive rewards for completing questions. We performed two evaluations, an A/B study with 22 participants and an evaluation with 14 experts in subject-related fields. We could show that learners are more engaged in the in-game questionnaire and integrated questions make them more likely to respond. We could also identify strategies to obtain more reliable responses such as asking questions right after a task or including gamification elements. Findings can contribute to design more engaging applications or learning environments where evaluation and feedback have significance for both educators and learners.

Presentations

Pangaea Minds: A global approach to K-12 Education
Peta Estens
Pangaea Minds, Australia
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Our special presenting examines how the education system struggles to support students to develop 21st century skills, global awareness, teamwork, communication and collaboration. Schools operate as silos- Global borders were closed for schools long before the pandemic. Exchanges too have ceased. Teachers and students are suffering Moodle and Zoom fatigue. Globally, many students and teachers don’t have access to quality training and support. There is a disparity in the standard of education delivery. Innovation is paralysed by governing bureaucratic systems. Education needs to reframe the curriculum to empower students to thrive in the Web 4.0 and Society 5.0 age. Pangaea Minds is engaged with global organisations such as the OECD, UNESCO and Amnesty International’s urgent appeal for education reform and we are a pathway for schools to respond. We are the how to reform at the grass-roots level. We are committed to supporting schools to evolve and be relevant for the future. We provide a pathway for schools to network globally through immersive virtual worlds to collaboratively deliver identified 21st century skills. Pangaea Minds affiliated schools combat zoom fatigue through using avatars for activity-based problem-solving and play. We offer K-12 students ongoing cross-cultural experiences, eSports teams and global team-teaching and project-based learning. Pangaea Minds support teacher-training to equip the next generation with the attitude and aptitude for true global citizenship. Pangaea Minds is excited to be facilitating the 2021 International Youth Research Competition, an action-research project whereby global teams of students will respond to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our Practitioner special session will share the findings of this unique and forward-thinking project and invite K-12 Educators to join the Pangaea Minds venture.


Global Commemorations through FRAME VR
Nely Daher, Hamish Oates
Knox Gramar Preparatory School, Australia
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The Year 3 cohort at Knox Grammar Preparatory School have transitioned their inquiry learning process of Global Commemorations into an interactive virtual environment through the use of FRAME VR. Whilst maintaining our focus on inquiry learning and facilitating student development across the Australian Curriculum (ACARA) general capabilities, we have been able to extend our students critical and creative thinking by providing new and exciting means to enhance their reasoning and communication skills whilst increasing the level of positive ICT engagement through an immersive virtual learning experience.
From hand drawn posters and written essays to powerpoint presentations accompanied by a two minute oral presentation, our Year 3 students are now uploading inquiry research tasks designed on Google Slides, to a VR environment created collaboratively on FRAME VR. Students are immersed in a virtual learning space where they walk through moments in time, revisiting rich history where they can integrate their research into these environments. Utilising FRAME VR, we are able to provide equal opportunities for students to create a spatial presentation for their work, with the freedom to display it in differentiated forms. Oral presentations, video recordings and 3D models can be consolidated into one space.
Virtual learning environments are shared with the parent community at the closure of a particular unit of inquiry. By sharing a safe link, parents are granted easy access to their child’s virtual learning world. Our vision is to create an ongoing e-portfolio of individual student work using this platform. It will grow as presentations are added and stored onto customised virtual FRAME’s in a child safe and non-invasive manner. By nurturing the inquiry learning process, we are collectively instilling a creative outlook in students through an extended reality environment that will be utilised to engage the whole school community.

Presentations
 
Immersive Technology in the Public School Classroom: When a Class Meets
Samuel Williams(1), Rowena Enatsky(2), Holly Gillcash(2), James Murphy(2), Denis Gracanin(1)
1: Virginia Tech, United States of America; 2: CLS STEM+, United States of America
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Recent research suggests that students feel disconnected in distance educational environments. There is an immediate and sustained need for innovative approaches that provide personalized and interactive instruction, digital equity, and scale-up remote teaching. Shared, collaborative virtual spaces, such as Mozilla Hubs, can provide new learning modalities for educators and students, especially during the pandemic. We describe our experience with using Mozilla Hubs in formal and informal educational settings. We conducted several user studies to collect qualitative feedback from the participants. These studies include an educator workshop, a girl scout meeting, and a class gathering. The findings provide an insight how practical, useful, and entertaining such virtual spaces are to the participants.
 
 
Project Learn&Play: Piloting A Game-based Instruction For Students In Comparison To An Engineering Lecture
Anna Seidel, Franziska Weidle, Claudia Börner
Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany
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Challenges stemming from change processes such as the climate crisis are ubiquitous. To address these challenges, highly skilled specialists are needed. However, engineering courses show a decrease in enrolment numbers and high drop-out rates. Furthermore, engineering students represent a rather homogeneous group. Since diverse groups are more innovative and effective in addressing future problems, it is desirable to increase not only the quantity but also the diversity of enrolments. Therefore, the project x utilises a game-based instruction to raise interest in engineering. To examine the effects of the game as well as differences in contrast to conventional instructions, a study in a within-subject-design was conducted. Regarding motivational variables, the self-concept of ability and cognition, only a main effect of cognition and an interaction effect for cognition and gender could be detected. Furthermore, recorded gameplay sessions gave useful insights into the engagement process as well as influential effects.

Presentations

Interactive Game-based Exploration of an Underwater Paleontological Site
Corly Huang, Qiming Chen, Vid Petrovic, Dominique Rissolo, Leanne Chukoskie
University of California, San Diego, United States of America
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The Yucatan Peninsula contains many cenotes, some of which contain promising opportunities for archeological and paleontological research in the Americas. Here we describe the transdisciplinary research efforts as part of documenting and studying the artifacts at Hoyo Negro. We translate these efforts into a video game that represents the digital twin of Hoyo Negro for the public to explore. Through this game we seek to excite middle school children about opportunities in science through the rich content at Hoyo Negro and employing next generation science standards so that the game can be tested with middle school students and used as part of science curricula.

Synapse VR: Catalyzing Collaboration through Immersive Learning
Cat Flynn, Seth Corrigan, Faby Gagne
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Please pardon our dust as we replaced this one Sched session with 29 individual sessions.  Please visit the booths in the Expo Hall!

Presentations

Great Paintings in Fully Immersive Virtual Reality
Hubert Cecotti
California State University, Fresno, United States of America
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Large collections of paintings have been digitized by museums (e.g. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York, USA) and companies such as Google. These resources can be provided to a wide audience through virtual reality as an instructional means to fully convey the size and the magnificence of these paintings. Accessing these resources in an immersive virtual environment can be beneficial to all the students who live far away from museums. In addition, making these resources available to a wide audience answers a current need related to the closure of many museums, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper provides a description of a fully immersive virtual reality museum where paintings can be accessed in two modes: individually (one painting per room), or in galleries (multiple paintings in a room) that are generated procedurally. More importantly, the proposed application provides a means for museums and art instructors to insert their own collections of paintings. Such an approach aims at improving the transition of high resolution images of paintings into art galleries in virtual reality. The application has been deployed on the Steam platform, is available for free, and has been evaluated by users, suggesting a high interest for such an application.


Alternative Design For An Interactive Exhibit Learning In Museums: How Does User Experience Differ Across Different Technologies-VR, Tangible, And Gesture
Pornphan Phichai(1), Julie Williamson(2), Matthew Barr(3)
1: School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom; 2: School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom; 3: School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
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This paper investigates three types of user interfaces: VR, Gesture-based interface, and Tangible-based interface. We examine how user experience differs across different technology and what are the factors that make the experience difference. To find the answer we conduct an empirical study, in which we create three different interactive exhibits that apply these technologies to deliver the same scientific content about biotoxin in nature. The study uses a mixed-method, qualitative and quantitative, and measures two factors. First, user experience is measured by six dimensions of user experience: attractiveness, perspicuity, efficiency, dependability, simulation, and novelty. Second, attention holding power is measured by playing time. The study uses the semi-structured interview to emphasize the issue and learning media of each interface. Thirty-one subjects joined the study. The statistical results shows that there are significantly different user experiences when using a different type of interface. There are difference across five user experience dimensions, only novelty is relatively unchanged. Difference are primarily between VR and Gesture, and Tangible and Gesture. There is no significant difference in holding power between the three types of interface. The statistical analysis of result and interview feedback from participants suggest six aspects to focus on when choosing an alternative interface to create a new interactive exhibit: the novelty, user-friendly, precision of the input device, task and device design, multimodal of feedback, and quality of text in VR.


Communal Spaces As Ludic Resources Of Learning With Augmented Reality And Board Games
Kenneth Y. T. Lim(1), Yuk Yi Wong(2), Ahmed Hazyl Hilmy(1)
1: National Institute of Education, Singapore; 2: St Joseph's Institution, Singapore
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This paper describes a learning activity using Augmented Reality (AR) which seeks to take advantage of the potential for learning about history and culture through exploration. This is represented by a garden in a university campus that affords visitors a scaffolded experience comprising a game-driven narrative in which visitors to the garden may assume the roles of different protagonists. In addition, we also sought to design a paper-based board-game for visitors who are not yet able to visit the garden in person. Both aspects of the learning activity – namely, the game-driven narratives in the actual garden as well as in the board-game equivalent – were piloted in December 2020. The study suggests that a combination of Augmented Reality, storyline and role-play could increase the probability of encounters with spontaneous elements in learners’ local environments that encourage learning.

Presentations

ActiVaR: XR for Education in Sustainable Development
Jimmy Vainstein, Diego Angel-Urdinola
The World Bank, United States of America

The World Bank started the deployment of VR, AR and immersive tools to support Education institutions in Ecuador to develop, improve, and reinforce students’ skills. The use of the technology aimed to help technical institutes overcome challenges related to imitations in availability of hands-on training, costly equipment or access to proper content and learning situations. Education institutions in developing countries generally lack resources to equip, maintain, and update laboratories, which are an important resource to develop, improve, and reinforce students’ skills. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR) technologies have promising potential as tools to develop cost-effective virtual labs. The presentation will showcase the World Bank’s strategy for evaluating the impact of the Active Training Using Augmented and Virtual Reality “ActiVaR” Program, a pilot program that seeks to assess the effectiveness of using Zspace based Virtual Labs to deliver training in auto-mechanics in a selected Technical and Technological Program in Ecuador, in addition to Industrial Risk VR headset-based simulations. The program seeks to improve basic cognitive skills of students after they have been exposed to the basic principles of the operation of internal combustion engines and general industrial safety practices.

Inclusive VR through Inclusive Co-Design with Neurodiverse Learners
Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki(1), Teon Edwards(1), Jamie Larsen(1), Zachary Alstad(1), Gerald Belton(2), Daniel Lougen(2), Daniel Santana(2)
1: TERC; 2: Landmark College
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This paper reports on a fully inclusive co-design process of an informal VR science game intended to be accessible to a broad range of learners. The co-design embraces the 'nothing about us without us' movement by ensuring that stakeholder voices have a prominent role throughout the design process. In the project described in this paper, professional designers and researchers work with a team of neurodiverse stakeholders as peer members of the design team. The design process is described, and the findings based on feedback from all co-design participants is reported. Recommendations for others in the field are provided to help guide those interested in implementing an effective and inclusive co-design process.

Presentations

Look at It This Way: A Comparison of Metaphors for Directing the User's Gaze in eXtended Reality Training Systems
Filippo Gabriele Pratticò, Federico De Lorenzis, Fabrizio Lamberti
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
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Interest is raising around extended reality training systems (XRTSs), which started to be considered as a credible option to train companies' workforce. Even though there is a growing body of literature on best practices and techniques to be adopted for teaching individuals how to perform a variety of operations (e.g., for assembly and maintenance procedures), there are also training situations which have gone mostly unexplored yet. In this paper, we propose and evaluate three different metaphors to face the key challenges associated with training procedures involving parallax-dependent tasks, i.e., tasks in which the instructor needs to make the trainee reach a target observation point and guide his/her attention towards a given point of interest at the same time. Effects observed through a user study that was run in a testbed environment indicated that metaphors based on 3D avatars and frustum visualization can provide important advantages over video-based techniques.


Asymmetrical Game Design Approaches Solve Didactic Problems in VR Engineer Trainings
Ulrike Meyer(1), Jonathan Becker(1), Thomas Müller(2), André Jeworutzki(1), Susanne Draheim(1), Kai von Luck(1)
1: University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, Germany; 2: EnBW
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The use of VR in training groups for wind turbine engineers can cause didactic and practical problems. Integrating the whole group into the lesson and retaining attention and motivation while only one or two trainees wear a VR head mounted display (HMD) can be challenging for the trainer. Whereas VR HMDs isolate the users, engineering on wind turbines is a group effort. The problem is exacerbated when trainees need to use remote access to participate in the lesson, as can be the case under pandemic restrictions. We propose to use methods from asymmetrical game design and constructivist didactics to integrate participants without VR headsets into VR trainings for engineers.


Immersive Virtual Soft Skills Learning and Training of Employees: A Scoping Review
Tone Lise Dahl
SINTEF AS, Norway
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Soft skills training is considered important for employees to be successful at work. Several companies are offering immersive virtual soft skills training with head-mounted displays. The main contribution of this paper is to provide an overview of the research literature within the field of using immersive virtual soft skills learning and training of employees. The results of this preliminary scoping review show that there is a lack of research literature and empirical studies within this topic.

Presentations

VERITAS: Mind-mapping in Virtual Reality
Robert Sims, Abhijit Karnik
Lancaster University, United Kingdom
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Inquiry based learning is a modern and innovative learning strategy that aims to stimulate students’ interest in a topic and target Bloom’s higher order cognitive process. Reflective tasks, such as mind mapping, support inquiry-based learning. Virtual Reality (VR) presents novel opportunities to help scaffold reflective tasks in inquiry-based learning by supporting use of the 3D space which is not available via existing 2D mind mapping applications. In this paper we present VERITAS, a VR application for mind-mapping based reflective tasks operating on the low-cost Oculus Go device. We discuss the interaction design for the mind-mapping task and evaluate the system from a usability perspective. Our results show that novice participants are able to learn how to use the interactions quickly and utilize them effectively to build mind-maps in 3D. VERITAS establishes the usability of VR and essential interactions to successfully perform abstract and complex reflective tasks like mind-mapping.


Space, a Central Frontier – The Role of Spatial Abilities When Learning the Structure of 3D AR Objects
Jule Marleen Krüger, Daniel Bodemer
University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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Learning about three-dimensional (3D) objects is the focus of many augmented reality (AR) applications. Although this underlines the importance of spatiality in AR experiences, learners’ spatial abilities should be considered in this context. While spatial abilities may compensate for the lack of spatial information in 2D representations (ability-as-compensator hypothesis), they may also be necessary for learning with 3D representations in the first place (ability-as-enhancer hypothesis). In the current study, we examine the role 3D spatial visualization abilities and 2D spatial memory abilities may play when learning with 3D AR objects. Both variables were measured in an exploratory pilot study in which N = 33 participants learned about the spatial structure of the modules of the International Space Station (ISS) with either an AR or a non-AR mobile application. We found that spatial abilities indeed had moderating effects on achievement in the learning task and knowledge test, although the results are inconclusive concerning an ability-as-enhancer or compensator hypothesis. We discuss the results and conclude that it is necessary that researchers take a closer look at the role of learners’ spatial abilities when learning with 3D representations in AR. With additional insights, practitioners can then make informed decisions on using AR applications.


ELLE-ments of Learning: A Framework for Analyzing Multimodal Technical Communication Strategies in an Educational VR Game
Emily Kuzneski Johnson
University of Central Florida, United States of America
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This paper provides a brief overview of technical communication following Peirce’s [2] firstness (aesthetics), secondness (action promotion), and thirdness (explicit explanation), and identifies each of these categories in an educational language learning virtual reality (VR) game created at a university, ELLE-ments of Learning. The framework described here can help game researchers better understand, evaluate, and discuss the ways in which games communicate with players and can also be used by game designers and developers to ensure their games convey important and complicated information to players effectively in each of Peirce’s three categories.