ERIC Number: EJ1154928
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1947-8518
EISSN: N/A
Incidental Learning in 3D Virtual Environments: Relationships to Learning Style, Digital Literacy and Information Display
Thomas, Wayne W.; Boechler, Patricia M.
International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, v5 n4 Article 3 p29-44 2014
With teachers taking more interest in utilizing 3D virtual environments for educational purposes, research is needed to understand how learners perceive and process information within virtual environments (Eschenbrenner, Nah, & Siau, 2008). In this study, the authors sought to determine if learning style or digital literacy predict incidental learning, that is, learning that occurs without learners being instructed to attend to or learn presented information. One hundred and fifty-five education undergraduate students completed a series of tasks in a virtual environment where additional information unrelated to the tasks was present. The results indicate that in addition to incidental learning taking place in virtual environments, learning style and digital literacy seem to predict incidental learning in some instances. The results also suggest that information display, in this case visual salience, plays a role in incidental learning as the participants performed better on recalling information that was made more salient.
Descriptors: Incidental Learning, Computer Simulation, Simulated Environment, Cognitive Style, Computer Literacy, Predictor Variables, Undergraduate Students, Education Majors, Task Analysis, Visual Stimuli, Recall (Psychology), Measures (Individuals), Correlation, Regression (Statistics), Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A