Virtual Learning Environments to Enhance Spatial Orientation

Carlos Carbonell-Carrera; Jose Luis Saorin

doi:10.12973/ejmste/79171

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Carlos Carbonell-Carrera ¹ ^* , Jose Luis Saorin ¹

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¹ University of La Laguna, SPAIN^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The spatial orientation skill allows us to determine our location in relation to the environment. It can be developed through specific training, and is a competence to be acquired in STEM university degrees related to geospatial information. In addition to map reading, an activity that provides the spatial orientation skill is wayfinding. While wayfinding the information obtained from successive views of the environment provides spatial orientation. This research presents an immersive orientation experiment, in which an urban environment is displayed through a Smartphone installed in VR 3D glasses. The motion direction is controlled with a joystick. In the experiment 32-second year engineering students from La Laguna University participated, and the average gain in spatial orientation skill was of 12.81º, measured with the Perspective Taking Spatial Orientation Test. No gender differences detected. This gain is less than that obtained in previous experiments with GISc, Geoportals and Augmented Reality resources.

Keywords

science and engineering education
immersive environment
spatial orientation
virtual learning environments
virtual reality 3D

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2018, Volume 14, Issue 3, 709-719

https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/79171

Publication date: 26 Nov 2017

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APA

Carbonell-Carrera, C., & Saorin, J. L. (2018). Virtual Learning Environments to Enhance Spatial Orientation. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(3), 709-719. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/79171

Vancouver

Carbonell-Carrera C, Saorin JL. Virtual Learning Environments to Enhance Spatial Orientation. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2018;14(3):709-19. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/79171

AMA

Carbonell-Carrera C, Saorin JL. Virtual Learning Environments to Enhance Spatial Orientation. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2018;14(3), 709-719. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/79171

Chicago

Carbonell-Carrera, Carlos, and Jose Luis Saorin. "Virtual Learning Environments to Enhance Spatial Orientation". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2018 14 no. 3 (2018): 709-719. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/79171

Harvard

Carbonell-Carrera, C., and Saorin, J. L. (2018). Virtual Learning Environments to Enhance Spatial Orientation. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(3), pp. 709-719. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/79171

MLA

Carbonell-Carrera, Carlos et al. "Virtual Learning Environments to Enhance Spatial Orientation". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 14, no. 3, 2018, pp. 709-719. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/79171