Establishing Communal Constructivism as an Appropriate Pedagogy for Virtual Reality (VR) Technology
1William K. W. CHOY, 2Andrew K. H. TAN, 2FOO Wing Yong, and 2CHIA Kiah Ngian
1Principal Fellow, Higher Education Academy, UK
Consultant, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Hong Kong
1ITE Academy, The Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore
2Aerospace Avionics, School of Engineering, The Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore
Keywords: Communal constructivism, virtual reality, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), Institute of Technical Education (ITE), aerospace avionics, innovative pedagogy, student learning outcomes
Abstract
As educators explore the use of virtual reality (VR) technology for education, there is an increased need to deliberate which pedagogical methods offer opportunities for doing more than just replicating the conventional classroom by leveraging the distinctive features and potential offered by the technology.
This research proposes communal constructivism as a viable pedagogy in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) context. This approach, supported by VR technology, was implemented to train students in the concept of the aircraft Instrument Landing System (ILS) as covered in one of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE)’s aerospace avionics modules.
Two groups of 32 learners participated in the study in which their learning experiences were analysed. Data from surveys, semi-structured interviews and observations were examined to ascertain participants’ experiences and the outcomes of the proposed pedagogy, including the affordances of the technology to improve their learning.
The findings from the quantitative and qualitative data suggest that learners construct knowledge for their benefit as well as collaboratively as a group to improve their learning, as a consequence of the innovative approach.