Virtual Environments in Pedagogy
Design Document Excerpt

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While not as immersive as true virtual reality environments, graphically descriptive 3DRTVEs offer opportunities of constructivist learning to users, where the user learns through the manipulation of objects. This pedagogical theory of constructivism “…assumes there are multiple perspectives through which individuals may view the world. Individuals construct these perspectives by building mental models and new mental models are more easily built when they are linked to individuals’ existing mental representations.” [Swan,Hughes] Constructivism is a prominent theory often cited within research on VEs used as teaching tools. According to Dewey, “...a situation represents the experiences of the environment affecting the learner, and interaction takes place between the learner and his or her environment. So, knowledge is based on active experience.” [Huang] This project engages students in a constructivist manner by allowing them to virtually interact with the mandala-building objects within the ritual space.

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While pedagogical VEs have been well documented in the domain of the sciences, using these environments to teach about rituals has occurred less frequently. Still, some researchers have realized the teaching potential, and have created virtual rituals, such as in Cruz-Neira and Sanford’s “Virtual Hindu Ritual” (see Related Works). Because rituals are procedural by nature, and are often carried out in a linear fashion, they lend themselves to the type of virtual recreation offered in this project.