Mixing Educational Robotics, Tangibles and Mixed Reality Environments for the Interdisciplinary Learning of Geography and History

Stefanos Xefteris,George Palaigeorgiou

doi:10.3991/ijep.v9i2.9950

Stefanos Xefteris, George Palaigeorgiou

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v9i2.9950

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Abstract

In the present study we present a mixed reality learning environment that aims to become a creative, joyful and efficient interdisciplinary canvas for learning about history and geography and for concurrently fostering computational thinking. The environment makes use of embodied affordances and educational robotics and consists of two parts: an augmented 3D-tangible model of southern Europe with finger-based interaction and a second floor-based augmented robotics track de-picting European landmarks, where students are asked to perform tasks with Mindstorms EV3 robots. The game scenario describes a treasure hunt around Eu-rope and students swap between finger-based and robotics-based interactive sur-faces in two pairs. For the evaluation of our intervention, six groups of four stu-dents played with the environment for approximately 45 minutes each. Data col-lection was performed through pre- and post-knowledge test, attitude question-naire and a semi-formal group interview. Students’ answers showed that the mixed reality environment improved their engagement and motivation and en-hanced their orientation around Europe’s geophysical features. The robotics as-pect consolidated further their computational thinking skills while being highly exciting. The proposed approach was closer to the student’s expectations and in-teractive experiences, successfully exploited embodied learning opportunities and gamified the learning process.

Highlights

It is not unusual for people to think history as a subject, as no more than a series of facts and timelines, disregarding its deeper, more fundamental learning value: By learning history we are provided with anchors that link the present to our collective past and knowledge that is not restricted to it, but can be used to foster understanding of how the current society and status quo evolved through time
We present a two-layered tangible environment integrating two mixed reality environments that aim to enhance and improve the experience of learning geography and history and to promote practicing computational thinking tasks
The goal of the study was to explore the learning effects of this multimodal tangible interface, which was constructed with lowcost and easy-to-find hardware, and which teachers and students can reproduce and transform to fit into multiple teaching scenarios

Summary

Introduction

It is not unusual for people to think history as a subject, as no more than a series of facts and timelines, disregarding its deeper, more fundamental learning value: By learning history we are provided with anchors that link the present to our collective past and knowledge that is not restricted to it, but can be used to foster understanding of how the current society and status quo evolved through time. Students are enabled to disregard ex-cathedra or unsubstantiated explanations since current teaching paradigms aim to ensure that the root causes of facts are identified, promoting a better understanding. History is fascinating and a worthwhile endeavor, quite a few students would disagree: Learning about history was frequently deemed by them as an uninteresting and boring activity, owed to the fact that up until recently, teaching of history included mainly the endless recitation of dates, facts and events [1]. Studies conducted in many schools, have shown significant fluctuations on the pupils’ attitudes towards history [2]

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