Effects of a graphic organizer-based two-tier test approach on students’ learning achievement and behaviors in spherical video-based virtual learning contexts

• Published in: Computers and education 2023-06, Vol.198, p.104757, Article 104757
• Main Authors: Hwang, Gwo-Jen, Chen, Hui-Chueh, Hsu, Chung-Yuan, Hwang, Gwo-Haur
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applications in subject areas; Elementary education; Information literacy; Interactive learning environments; Teaching/learning strategies
• ISSN: 0360-1315; 1873-782X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104757

Situating learners in a context relevant to scientific phenomena enables them to acquire knowledge through experience, reflection, conceptualization, and practice, which is an important learning mode in science education. However, learners generally do not have opportunities to experience many scientific phenomena in the real world. Therefore, virtual learning environments (VLE) are becoming a frequently adopted technology to provide authentic learning contexts. In particular, spherical video-based learning environments (SVLE), which are a low-tech form of VLE, have attracted the attention of school teachers and educational technology researchers. Additionally, effective assessment methods, such as the two-tier-test, have been adopted to examine learners' performance during the virtual learning process. On the other hand, researchers have pointed out that lack of effective learning strategies may decrease the learning effects in a virtual learning context. Hence, this study integrated a graphic organizer into a two-tier test-based learning mode, in which the first-tier questions were declarative items with a short answer (e.g., the questions of where, what, and when), whereas the second-tier questions were more in-depth, deeper causal-type questions (e.g., the questions of why and how), in the contexts of SVLE. To verify the effectiveness of this learning approach, a graphic organizer-based two-tier test SVLE was developed; moreover, a quasi-experimental design was conducted in the “Mysteries of the Earth” unit of the sixth graders' natural science course. A total of 41 sixth graders from two classes, with an average age of 12, were recruited in this experiment. One class was assigned to be the experimental group adopting the graphic organizer-based two-tier test SVLE (GT-SVLE), while the other was the control group adopting the conventional two-tier test-based SVLE (CT-SVLE). All of the students learned with the SVLE using tablet computers. Based on the results, the GT-SVLE could better improve students' learning achievement than the CT-SVLE. Besides, according to behavioral analysis and interviews, the control group had significantly more learning behaviors of repeated reading of supplementary materials and repeated wrong answers, indicating that the proposed approach facilitated students’ positive behaviors through observation and knowledge construction in SVLE, which helped them achieve the learning objectives. •A spherical video-based learning environ