Collaborative 3D learning games for future vocational learning: Teachers’ instructional practices in empowering learning

Author(s):

Raija Hämäläinen(presenting / submitting)Kimmo Oksanen

Conference:

ECER 2012

Network:

16. ICT in Education and Training

Format:

Paper

Session Information

16 SES 03 A, Games in Education

Parallel Paper Session

Time:

2012-09-18

17:15-18:45

Room:

FCT - Aula 12

Chair:

Ed Smeets

Contribution

The changing needs of working life create new challenges for both learning and teaching in vocational education settings. Work tasks have become increasingly complicated and work is typically based on inter-professional expertise and the shared knowledge construction (Billett 2008). Typically in vocational school settings, however, students of different fields do not work together to solve problems. As vocational jobs are likely to call for collaboration in the future, it is necessary to find new ways of supporting collaboration in vocational learning. One way to respond to these needs is to create new technology-enhanced learning (TEL) spaces (e.g. 3D games) that offer an added incentive to practice inter-professional collaboration. In this study, a 3D online learning game for groups of five participants at a time with scripted tasks (see Kobbe et al. 2007) was developed. The game is based on the notion that future work-life is based on inter-professional expertise and the shared construction of knowledge, and there is a need to improve communication to reach a shared understanding, processes, and work principles in interagency-work. Thus, the aim of the game is to enhance the inter-professional knowledge construction in the area of human sustainability. Specifically, participants work as volunteer staff at a charity concert; they must prepare for the event and ensure that customers are satisfied.

When aiming at high-level learning, it is essential to pay attention to how the game environments are designed and what the teacher’s role is in virtual game spaces. Recent results on collaborative learning have shown that shared high-level knowledge construction is a challenging and multi-faceted process influenced by several contextual factors (Arvaja, 2012). Moreover, it has been observed that reaching high levels in collaborative activity is less frequent than is presumed (Baker, 2010). Many have also asked whether it is even realistic to expect students to arrive at high-level problem solving without the teacher’s support. In order to establish the development and application of high-level transferable skills, it is essential to see the whole gaming experience as a mixture of in-game and out-of-game activities (Whitton, 2010), including briefing, real-time orchestration and debriefing. Related to these notions, our assumption is that the teacher has a special role in empowering this integration in 3D game contexts. However, currently, there is little knowledge about the teacher’s role in game environments.

In this study, the main aim is to investigate teachers’ real-time orchestration activities in a scripted 3D game setting in vocational education. The aim is to illustrate teachers’ instructional practices in empowering students to elaborate on their situated explanations. Firstly, based on our previous empirical evidence (see, Hämäläinen & Oksanen, 2012) our hypothesis is that groups with real-time teacher orchestration (Condition 1) will come up with more productive knowledge construction than groups studying without real-time teacher orchestration (Condition 2) in the scripted 3D-game setting. The assumption is that real-time teacher instructional activities are favourable to collaborative learning. Secondly, in case the hypothesis is true, our aim is to seek further understanding of teachers’ instructional activities in empowering collaboration.

Method

The empirical part of this design-based study was conducted in an authentic classroom setting. Altogether, 27 vocational students between the ages of 16 and 18 and three teachers took part in the collection, making up six groups of five people (N=30, 23 males, 7 females). In practice, three groups with and three groups without real-time teacher orchestration (Condition 1 vs. Condition 2) solved scripted puzzles in a 3D learning game. The empirical study consisted of a two-to-three hour working period in the College of Jyväskylä in Finland. In the data analysis, the data were revised and a content analysis was done on the knowledge construction process comparing the two research settings (Condition 1 and 2). All the video data were transcribed after the empirical study, including a total of 13,472 utterances from six groups. Of the full 13,472 utterances, 13,140 were categorized to include activities of shared knowledge construction. Next, in order to evaluate knowledge construction and the ways in which the two collaboration settings differed, quantitative and qualitative content analyses were conducted (Berelson, 1952). The grounds for using this type of an analysis lie in our earlier methodological findings on understanding collaboration in the 3D context.

Expected Outcomes

In total, 13,140 utterances were analysed with the content analysis. The conditions involving studying with real-time orchestration included 5004 utterances while 8136 utterances were discussion entries of student groups. In both conditions, interaction activities were mediated by a scripted 3D game. Analysis revealed that the scripted 3D game environment guided groups’ work. However, there were differences between these two conditions in their game processes. Two main differences were found related to how groups with real-time teacher orchestration were more productive in their knowledge construction activities. Firstly, participants in Condition 1 used 12.1 % of their utterances to explain their own situation, while those in Condition 2 used only 6.2 %. Secondly, in Condition 1, asking for specifying questions was used more actively (12 % of utterances compared to 8.8 % in condition 2). This has interesting implications for the future as the teacher’s professional competencies seems to be particularly helpful for developing a shared understanding of the inter-professional nature of the task, and explaining one’s own activities in a meaningful way as a part of solving inter-professional tasks. In this presentation, we will illustrate, with empirical examples, teachers’ orchestration activities related to explaining one’s situation and asking specifying questions.

References

Arvaja, M. (2012, In Press). Personal and shared experiences as resources for meaning making in a philosophy of science course. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. DOI: 10.1007/s11412-011-9137-5 Baker, M. (2010, September). Approaches to understanding students´ dialogues: articulating multiple modes of interaction. Keynote speaker lecture presented to an EARLI SIG 17 Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Learning and Instruction. Jena, Germany. Billett, S. (2008). The workplace as learning environment: Introduction. International Journal of Educational Research, 47 (4), 209-212. Hämäläinen, R. & Oksanen, K. (2012, In Press). Challenge Of Supporting Vocational Learning: Empowering Collaboration In A Scripted 3D Game – How Does Teachers’ Real-Time Orchestration Make A Difference? Computers & Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.01.002 Kobbe L., Weinberger A., Dillenbourg P., Harrer A., Hämäläinen R., Häkkinen P., et al. (2007). Specifying computer-supported collaboration scripts. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning 2(2/3), 211-224. Whitton, N. (2010). Learning with digital games. A practical guide to engaging students in higher education. Routledge: New York.

Author Information

Raija Hämäläinen (presenting / submitting)

University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Institute for Educational Research

University of Jyväskylä

Kimmo Oksanen

University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Finland

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