Feedback on design and use of a virtual

environment for practical lab work

Cyrille Baudouin (baudouin@enib.fr)

Pierre Chevaillier, Michel Beney, Agnes Le Pallec
LISyC - CERV, ENIB / UBO,
Brest, France

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 Object of study : VEL lab work

...

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 Table of contents

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 Context : school lab work in VR

Learning fields
Biology, physics, chemistry ...
high school, college and university

What does Virtual Reality bring to lab work ?

Safely experiment with virtual hazardous materials
Learn knowledge and know-how
Learn by doing
Dynamically feel and manipulate

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 Context : school lab work in VR

Learning fields
Biology, physics, chemistry ...
high school, college and university

What does Virtual Reality bring to lab work ?

Safely experiment with virtual hazardous materials
Learn knowledge and know-how
Learn by doing
Dynamically feel and manipulate

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 Context : pluridisciplinary approach

Science of Education
How can we help students build their representations when
adressing a scientific problem ?

Computer Science
How can we design a virtual environment for lab work ?
Is it possible and efficient to use a generic framework ?

LISyC proposal : MASCARET

A framework and a set of meta-models to build Virtual
Environment for human Learning

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 Context : pluridisciplinary approach

Science of Education
How can we help students build their representations when
adressing a scientific problem ?

Computer Science
How can we design a virtual environment for lab work ?
Is it possible and efficient to use a generic framework ?

LISyC proposal : MASCARET

A framework and a set of meta-models to build Virtual
Environment for human Learning

VRIC 2008 April 9th, 2008 5 / 1

 Context : pluridisciplinary approach

Science of Education
How can we help students build their representations when
adressing a scientific problem ?

Computer Science
How can we design a virtual environment for lab work ?
Is it possible and efficient to use a generic framework ?

LISyC proposal : MASCARET

A framework and a set of meta-models to build Virtual
Environment for human Learning

VRIC 2008 April 9th, 2008 5 / 1

 Designing the environment

How to build a VEL ?

Define the learning field
Design the virtual objects (3D geometries)
Create a pedagogical scenario

Models can help the course creator to design his environment

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 Teaching with our VEL

The VEL eases the tasks of the tutor

Supervise a full class
Evaluate the students
Give additional resources
Adapt and improve the environment during the learning
session
Our VEL must trace the leraners’ activity and allow the tutor to
control the simulation

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 Learning with our VEL

Aims for the learner

Learn new knowledge and know-how
Train his skills
Evaluate himself
Our VEL must provide pedagogical content and may embed an
Intelligent Tutoring System

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 Researching with our VEL

Study the learners’ behaviours

Trace the learners’ activity
Analyse it, based on the field model
Compare tasks instructions with traces

Researchers need models to explicit waited results and actions

plans and need tools to analyse the learner’s activity

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 Evolutions of Mascaret

Multi Agent System for Collaborative, Adaptative and Realistic

Training
Evolutions of Mascaret
Fundations and SMA : Ronan Querrec, Phd Thesis (2002)
ITS - PEGASE : Cedric Buche, Phd Thesis (2005)
Meta-Models : Pierre Chevaillier, HdR Thesis
Interactions : Cyrille Baudouin, PhD Thesis (to come)
Pedagogical scenario : Nicolas Marion, Phd Thesis (to come)

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 Packages of Mascaret

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 Meta models of mascaret

uml based models

Mascaret models = uml profiles
uml simplifications : types, features, ...
uml additions for VR : geometry, concrete behaviors, ...

M3 MOF (restriction d’uml)

M2 uml veha
M1 uml user model VEL1 model ...
M0 user objects VEL1a VEL1b ...

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 VEHA

...

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 VEHA

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 HAVE

...

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 Human actions

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 Using the environment

...

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 Tracing the activity

...

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 A complete work surface

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 A VEL for physics lab work

Field of application
Learn how to measurate the speed of light in various mediums.

The optical work surface

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 Experimental settings

14 subjects (18-20 years old)

First year engineer male students
Acquainted with VR
Same knowledge of physics

Protocol (1 hour experiment)

Tutorial (8’)
Learning phase (40’)
Debriefing : Interview + Questionnaire (12’)

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 Experimental settings

14 subjects (18-20 years old)

First year engineer male students
Acquainted with VR
Same knowledge of physics

Protocol (1 hour experiment)

Tutorial (8’)
Learning phase (40’)
Debriefing : Interview + Questionnaire (12’)

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 Observations

Learner’s activity : video + log (xml)

Actions
Perceptions
Help use
Exercices results (success)

Learner’s telling : interview + questionnaire

Problem understanding and rephrasing
Favorite helps
Feeling of success
Usability of the environment

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 Observations

Learner’s activity : video + log (xml)

Actions
Perceptions
Help use
Exercices results (success)

Learner’s telling : interview + questionnaire

Problem understanding and rephrasing
Favorite helps
Feeling of success
Usability of the environment

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 First study : evaluate the usability

Designing a dynamic and interactive VEL with

mascaret
Create the field model with VEHA (properties and behaviors)
Design the entity shape (3D geometries)
Explicit the field tasks with HAVE
Create a pedagogical scenario

Using the VEL

Questionnaire on usability
.

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 First study : evaluate the usability

Designing a dynamic and interactive VEL with

mascaret
Create the field model with VEHA (properties and behaviors)
Design the entity shape (3D geometries)
Explicit the field tasks with HAVE
Create a pedagogical scenario

Using the VEL

Questionnaire on usability
.

VRIC 2008 April 9th, 2008 23 / 1

 Second study : use of virtual resources

Preliminary study
An experiment in an educational VR world to study the use of
specific virtual helps.

Research issues
Which mean of action is the most efficient ?
When should a help be given ?
How do learners handle virtual helps ?

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 Second study : use of virtual resources

Preliminary study
An experiment in an educational VR world to study the use of
specific virtual helps.

Research issues
Which mean of action is the most efficient ?
When should a help be given ?
How do learners handle virtual helps ?

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 The virtual helps

Originality of our virtual help :

Helps aid students construct their representations. [1]
Helps do not modify the task.
Helps are dynamically handled.

Virtual helps’ use

All helps are given at once.
A short textual description is given for each help.
One coloured key to enable/disable each help.
Only one of the six helps can be activated at a time.

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 The virtual helps

Originality of our virtual help :

Helps aid students construct their representations. [1]
Helps do not modify the task.
Helps are dynamically handled.

Virtual helps’ use

All helps are given at once.
A short textual description is given for each help.
One coloured key to enable/disable each help.
Only one of the six helps can be activated at a time.

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 Help 1 : laser beam

Means of actions
Show an invisible item.

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 Help 2 : Simulator formula

Means of actions
Make the functioning explicit.

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 Help 3 : Ghost trace

Means of actions
Materialize an abstract concept.

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 Results of experiment

All kinds of help were useful.

Propose various means of action

Perspectives to improve the helps

Propose various means of action
Let the learner choose among several helps
Filter out useless helps depending on the context
Explicit the added value of each help
Make helps more affordant. Explain how to use them

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 Results of experiment

Learners prefered different helps.

Let the learner choose among several helps

Perspectives to improve the helps

Propose various means of action
Let the learner choose among several helps
Filter out useless helps depending on the context
Explicit the added value of each help
Make helps more affordant. Explain how to use them

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 Results of experiment

Some helps were useless in various contexts.

Filter out useless helps depending on the context

Perspectives to improve the helps

Propose various means of action
Let the learner choose among several helps
Filter out useless helps depending on the context
Explicit the added value of each help
Make helps more affordant. Explain how to use them

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 Results of experiment

The interest was not obvious.

Explicit the added value of each help

Perspectives to improve the helps

Propose various means of action
Let the learner choose among several helps
Filter out useless helps depending on the context
Explicit the added value of each help
Make helps more affordant. Explain how to use them

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 Results of experiment

The use of dynamic helps was unclear.

Make helps more affordant. Explain how to use them

Perspectives to improve the helps

Propose various means of action
Let the learner choose among several helps
Filter out useless helps depending on the context
Explicit the added value of each help
Make helps more affordant. Explain how to use them

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 Conclusion

...

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 Perspectives

...

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 Thank you. Questions ?

Feedback on design and use of a virtual

environment for practical lab work

Cyrille Baudouin (baudouin@enib.fr)

Pierre Chevaillier, Michel Beney, Agnes Le Pallec
LISyC - CERV, ENIB / UBO,
Brest, France

VRIC 2008 April 9th, 2008 30 / 1

 References

[1] Zachary, W. (1986) : A Cognitively based Functional Taxonomy of

Decision Support Techniques, Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 2, p. 25-63,
L. Erlbaum, NY.
[2] Beney. M, Guinard. J.-Y (2004) : l’évaluation de l’efficacité du guidage
dans les Travaux pratiques de Deug : un problème méthodologique complexe.
Didaskalia n˚ 24, p. 29-64.
[3] Buche C, Querrec R., De Loor P., and Chevalier. (2004) : Mascaret :
A pedagogical multi-agent system for virtual environment for training. Journal
of Distance Education Technologies, p. 41-61.

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