Tremendous efforts and resources are funneled towards increasing engagement in learning through gamification or the use of technology such as extended realities. However, a literature review raises a concern that engagement has become an end goal that might overshadow the ultimate objective of enhancing learning and increasing educational transfer. Furthermore, there is a concern that engagement during learning results in distractions due to the need to devote cognitive resources towards engaging in the tasks at hand. These cognitive resources are then not available to maximize learning. This may be of further concern when the learning task is not straightforward but is more complex and requires a higher cognitive workload during the learning, such as the case with learning and training to conduct risk assessments.
Could priming learners prior to learning lead to higher learning gain?
A two-phase approach is taken to examine the question above: (1) priming learners; (2) learning engagement. The priming phase consists of three settings: gamified, entertainment, and utilitarian. The learning task is to assess VR environments for noise exposure risk. In the gamified setting, learners will engage in assessment while receiving real-time feedback, with a performance-based monetary reward. In the entertainment setting, students assess risk in an entertainment center with noisy elements such as arcade machines, jukeboxes, and speakers. Real-time feedback will not be provided. In the utilitarian setting, learners conduct a risk assessment task in a VR industrial environment with neither gaming nor entertainment elements. Here too, real-time feedback will not be provided. All three priming settings will be short.
The learning engagement phase will immediately follow the priming phase. Here, all learners will engage in a risk assessment task in a utilitarian setting. Comparing the quality of the assessments among the three settings will document the effect of the priming setting on learning gain.
Keywords
RISK ASSESSMENT
Additional Keywords
Priming Learners, Virtual Reality