Abstract
The advent of nanoscientific applications in modern life is swiftly in progress. Nanoscale innovation comes with the pressing need to provide citizens and learners with scientific knowledge for judging the societal impact of nanotechnology. In rising to the challenge, this paper reports the developmental phase of a research agenda concerned with building and investigating a virtual environment for communicating nano-ideas. Methods involved elucidating core nano-principles through two purposefully contrasting nano “risk” and “benefit” scenarios for incorporation into an immersive system. The authors implemented the resulting 3D virtual architecture through an exploration of citizens' and school students' interaction with the virtual nanoworld. Findings suggest that users' interactive experiences of conducting the two tasks based on gestural interaction with the system serve as a cognitive gateway for engendering nano-related understanding underpinning perceived hopes and fears and as a stimulating pedagogical basis from which to teach complex science concepts.
Highlights
Many scholars would agree that we are in the midst of a nano-revolution
From a scientific point-of-view, it is difficult to argue against the prediction that advances in nanotechnology will have a significant influence on the future of humanity
Subsequent to specifying relevant nano-principles and conceptualizing the nano-scenarios, we focused on constructing an interactive virtual environment to communicate the intended nano-phenomena
Summary
Many scholars would agree that we are in the midst of a nano-revolution. From a scientific point-of-view, it is difficult to argue against the prediction that advances in nanotechnology will have a significant influence on the future of humanity. Gilbert and Lin (2013) have suggested “risk” as a core theme in nano-education, whereupon it is essential for citizens to construct informed views about nano. A research mission unfolds that seeks ways to provide citizens and learners with tools for developing knowledge to make scientific judgments about the potential benefits and risks of nano A review by Mikropoulos and Natsis (2011) has suggested that educational virtual environments can contribute to knowledge construction and attaining learning goals. Mikropoulos and Natsis (2011) reveal that few studies have investigated virtual environments that contain intuitive interaction, as well as users’ attitudinal dimensions, and identify these as emerging trends in the field. Earlier analysis by Dede (2009) echoes this view and calls for more studies on aligning the nature of the virtual environment with intended instructional design
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