Teaching safety precautions in a laboratory DVE: the effects of information location and interactivity

Abstract

Abstract. Information location and interactivity are two attributes of desktop virtual environment (DVE) design that can be exploited to enhance the ability of learners to acquire information and skills that transfer to real world. The term “information location” refers to the spatial relationship between linguistic information (text and sound) and virtual reality scenes. “Interactivity” refers to the actions by the learner that are afforded by the DVE (i.e. object manipulation, navigation, and user-system interaction). The effects of these attributes were assessed via pre, post, and retention measures of knowledge of laboratory precautions. Although no statistically significant difference was found, results indicate that co-located information produces a positive effect upon the learning and retention of declarative knowledge. However, “interactivity” appears to cause a detrimental effect on learning that depends on user-system activities and performance issues. An interesting finding is that co-located information encourages more extensive exploration of the DVE which, in turn, facilitates retention of spatial knowledge.