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Using Augmented Reality to Bring Clarity to Complex Scientific Phenomena |
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by Tom Hanlon |
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Woman standing in front of monitor gesturing |
Jina Kang, an assistant professor in Curriculum & Instruction is working on helping studentsunderstand not only space, but other complex phenomena in astronomy as well.
Kang is the principal investigator on a study that is exploring the capabilities of immersive augmented reality (AR) technologies in developing students’ collaborative problem-solving in science contexts.
“Immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality are becoming popular in formal and informal educational environments,” says Kang. “The increased adoption of immersive technologies has shown its benefits of enhancing learners’ understanding of abstract or invisible phenomena by allowing for digital representations of phenomena that are not easily comprehensible in the physical world.”
For example, she says, AR headsets allow learners to see holographic images of intangible scientific systems—from micro systems, such as molecules, to macro systems, such as galaxies—in their physical world and use their hands to interact with the objects.
The focus on collaborative problem-solving (CPS) has been identified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, as a critical competency of the 21st century. “Research has shown that CPS activities in STEM disciplines promote higher levels of motivation, engagement, and achievement,” Kang says. “With AR, people can see each other while they’re working, make eye contact, and talk about things. They can communicate better, learn better, collaborate more efficiently, and that’s one of our goals.”
Kang’s project is aimed at designing a two-layered AR learning platform—one with learning activities with holographic models of astronomical systems, and a shared workspace that promotes immersive collaborative experiences.
{ .top-left .fixed-small-width } The project began last fall, when she and colleagues designed learning activities using AR technology to teach students about planetary motion. The AR simulation is called “HoloOrbits,” because it projects holographic images into the viewer’s physical world.
“These concepts are invisible and abstract, but through 3D simulations, students can see the planetary motion, and they can manipulate the scientific system by using different types of gestures with their hands,” Kang says. “Our project team, which consists of a computer science undergraduate and Ph.D. students from the College of Education, has worked hard to develop the application despite facing various challenges due to limited resources.”
The project is in a pilot phase now, with Kang bringing in design experts to provide feedback on the simulation’s user experience. Experts in physics and astronomy will also assess the simulation from an educational standpoint. This summer, Kang will invite about 30 non-STEM college students to learn about planetary motion through the simulation. Eventually, she hopes to get this technology into high schools, once the technology drops in price.
“We’re still learning how to design better, how we can maximize the benefits of this new opportunity,” she says. “That’s why we are bringing in these people with different expertise—developers, designers, researchers, subject matter experts, user experience experts, and eventually students. They are all codesigners, giving us their input to improve our design.”
One thing that makes her project unique, Kang adds, is that the students are active in the co-designing process. That’s rarely the case. “Our findings will transform the learners’ voices into the design of a data-driven learning platform,” she says. “And giving students a voice in the design process will not only motivate learning but address their diverse needs, which ultimately facilitates their participation in STEM.”