This paper explores the affordances of virtual reality (VR) simulations for facilitated model-based reasoning. Thirty-four undergraduate students engaged with simulated scientific models in head-mounted displays and their facilitator in a co-located mixed-presence configuration. We coded the facilitator--participant interactions using the…

Online peer feedback has proven to be practically useful for instructors and to be useful for learning, especially for the feedback provider. Because students can vary widely in skill level, some research has explored matching reviewer and author by performance level. However, past research on the impacts of reviewer matching has found little…

This study investigates how learners collaboratively construct embodied geometry knowledge in shared VR environments. Three groups of in-service teachers collaboratively explored six geometric conjectures with various virtual objects (geometric shapes) under the guidance of a facilitator. Although all the teachers were in different physical…

We investigated how families experienced immersion as they collaboratively made sense of geologic time and geoscience processes during a place-based, learning-on-the-move (LOTM) experience mediated by a mobile augmented reality (MAR) app. Our team developed an MAR app, "Time Explorers," that focused on how rock-water interactions shaped…

In this paper, and as a tribute to our friend and collaborator Barbara White, we explore how Generative AI (GenAI) technology can create stimulating new learning environments that support complex sense-making activities. We present a case study of expert use of a chat-based generative AI tool to examine the feasibility of using human-computer…

While there is increased interest in using movement and embodiment to support learning due to the rise in theories of embodied cognition and learning, additional work needs to be done to explore how we can make sense of students collectively developing their understanding within a mixed-reality environment. In this paper, we explore embodied…

This research examines small group collaboration on the Augmented Reality (AR) Sandbox, an interactive, real-time topographical simulator that provides a color layer of augmentation showing depths and height, contour lines, and hydrology vis-a-vis the terrain of sand in a box. Prior research has focused on AR Sandbox activity designs, outcome…

By adopting a situated and interactional approach, we explore students' immersive VR experiences as resources for collaborative meaning making and learning. We draw on data from a project in which teachers and researchers co-developed a learning design for upper secondary students involving immersive VR technology. In this learning design,…

The discourse of small groups of 3-4 adults enrolled in a graduate business course was audio-recorded as they participated in a computer-supported simulation in which the group represented a firm and worked over a series of eight sessions in making a series of decisions. Discourse transcripts were analyzed using a coding scheme that classified…

This paper proposes the Learning in Embodied Activity Framework (LEAF) which aims to synthesize across individual and sociocultural theories of learning to provide a more robust account of how the body plays a role in collaborative learning, particularly when students are learning about a collective phenomenon where coordination between and across…

Through close analyses of the interaction that takes place between students and facilitators, this study investigates the instructional use of video in post-simulation debriefings. The empirical material consists of recordings of 40 debriefings that took place after simulation-based training scenarios in health care education. During the…

Research on simulator training has rarely focused on the way simulated contexts are constructed collaboratively. This study sheds light on how structuring role-play and fostering social interactions may prove fruitful for designing simulator training. The article reports on a qualitative study of nautical students training in a ship simulator. The…

Constructing a representation in which students express their domain understanding can help them improve their knowledge. Many different representational formats can be used to express one's domain understanding (e.g., concept maps, textual summaries, mathematical equations). The format can direct students' attention to specific aspects of the…

The growing importance of medical imaging in everyday diagnostic practices poses challenges for medical education. While the emergence of novel imaging technologies offers new opportunities, many pedagogical questions remain. In the present study, we explore the use of a new tool, a virtual microscope, for the instruction and the collaborative…

Although learning science in informal non-school environments has shown great promise in terms of increasing interest and engagement, few studies have systematically investigated and produced evidence of improved conceptual knowledge and cognitive skills. Furthermore, little is known about how digital technologies that are increasingly being used…