July 2007 Volume 10 Number 3 - Educational Technology & Society

Chen, C. H., Yang, J. C., Shen, S., & Jeng, M. C. (2007). A Desktop Virtual Reality Earth Motion System in Astronomy
Education. Educational Technology & Society, 10 (3), 289-304.
A Desktop Virtual Reality Earth Motion System in Astronomy Education
Chih Hung Chen 1 , Jie Chi Yang 2 , Sarah Shen 3 and Ming Chang Jeng 4
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan // spooky@mail2000.com.tw
2 Graduate Institute of Network Learning Technology, National Central University, Taiwan // yang@cl.ncu.edu.tw
3 Department of System Engineering, Institute for Information Industry, Taiwan // sarahshen215@hotmail.com
4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan // jeng@cc.ncu.edu.tw
ABSTRACT
In this study, a desktop virtual reality earth motion system (DVREMS) is designed and developed to be applied
in the classroom. The system is implemented to assist elementary school students to clarify earth motion
concepts using virtual reality principles. A study was conducted to observe the influences of the proposed
system in learning. Twenty-one sixth-grade students participated in the study. Statistical results show that the
scores in the pre-test and post-test significantly differ and using virtual reality can assist students in
understanding the concepts. Besides, four design recommendations – information, spatial behavior,
manipulation and concept representation – for improving the desktop VR system in education are also
presented.
Keywords
Desktop virtual reality, Earth motion, Astronomy education, Guided discovery learning
Introduction
Astronomy is an essential part of science education. However, many children have difficulty understanding some
concepts in astronomy, such as: the size and shape of the Earth; the cause of day and night; the cause of seasons, and
the orbits of the Earth, the Sun and the Moon (Dunlop, 2000). Some investigations have shown that the
misconceptions in astronomy are found in children from various countries (Diakidoy and Kendeou, 2001; Vosniadou
and Brewer, 1994). Many studies have also demonstrated that children utilize a limited number of mental models
when studying astronomy (Agan, 2004a, 2004b; Baxter, 1989; Diakidoy and Kendeou, 2001; Finegold and Pundak,
1991; Ojala 1997; Vosniadou, 1991). Although understanding grows with age, some misconceptions still persist into
the adulthood (Dove, 2002). Conventional teaching materials and methods represent 3D space with 2D diagrams,
which are hard to interpret (Parker and Heywood, 1998).
Strategies and methods helping students correct misconceptions include lectures, web pages, substantiation, 2D
diagrams, Macromedia® Flash animations, 3D models, scientific-grade telescopes, NASA space data and Virtual
Reality (VR) (McKinnon and Geissinger, 2002; Pena and Quilez, 2001; NASA, 2006). VR can effectively denote
spatial concepts, and can provide learners with an immersive learning environment. VR is highly promising for
computer-based training and simulation. Many previous studies have revealed that VR is highly beneficial to
education (Crosier et al., 2002; Byrne and Furness, 1994; Dede, 1995; Winn, 1997; Kaufmann et al., 2000;
Pantelidis, 1993). Therefore, VR has already been used in many subjects, such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics,
Astronomy and Medicine. The characteristics of VR – visualization, interactivity, and immersion – make it a useful
method to stimulate learning motivation (Osberg, 1995) and help immerse learners in a learning environment.
VR has already been shown to enhance learning effectiveness, but has limitations and disadvantages in the
classroom. Despite advances in VR technology, it is still inaccessible to teachers in the classroom because of
complex equipments and high cost. Not every school can afford HMD, trackers and other VR-related utilities like
Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE ® ), which is developed at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Teachers need to spend much time learning and configuring the equipments. Desktop VR is a low immersive VR that
can be easily applied in the classroom by teachers without high cost. Furthermore, the low immersion of Desktop VR
means that learners lack simulator sickness.
This study designed and developed a desktop VR Earth Motion System (DVREMS) aimed at teaching elementary
school students Earth motion in astronomy education. The DVREMS is expected to exploit the benefits of VR to
help students clarify their unclear conceptions. The DVREMS was practiced in the classroom, and an evaluation was
conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the system.
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