A new study from the University of Georgia reveals that using an immersive virtual reality game can significantly enhance science learning for multilingual students, helping them achieve academic success on par with their English-speaking counterparts.
A new study from the University of Georgia has revealed that using an immersive virtual reality game can significantly enhance science learning for multilingual students, helping them achieve academic success on par with their English-speaking counterparts.
Multilingual students often face unique challenges that can hinder their academic performance, particularly in science classes where specific terminology and complex sentence structures are common. Traditional teaching methods that rely heavily on spoken communication and written assessments can disadvantage these students.
To tackle this issue, lead author Ai-Chu Elisha Ding, an assistant professor at UGA’s Mary Frances Early College of Education, developed an immersive virtual reality game designed to help students grasp scientific concepts through multiple modes of communication.
The study included 97 seventh-grade students from an urban middle school in Indiana, who participated in learning sessions either through a desktop or an immersive VR setup. The researchers compared the students’ test scores before and after playing the game.
“Virtual reality offers meaning-making processes or meaning-making opportunities that go beyond just verbal communications,” Ding said in a news release. “Multilingual learners performed pretty well because they got the support they needed, and they had different ways to express their understanding beyond the typical ways that they did in the science classroom.”
The study found that all the students’ scores improved after playing the game, and multilingual students performed as well as their English-speaking peers. Additionally, students who played the immersive VR game showed a more significant improvement in test scores compared to those who played the desktop version.
The virtual reality game utilized visual cues, audio feedback and body movements, offering students multiple ways to learn and express their knowledge — an approach referred to as multimodal meaning-making. This method is crucial for multilingual students, as it allows them to construct and convey meaning through more than just words.
“In the U.S. education system, students mainly communicate their ideas through English,” Ding added. “Classroom interactions are also very verbal, meaning that students and teachers express themselves through written language or orally. That creates a lot of barriers for multilingual learners.”
Beyond the classroom, people frequently use hand gestures, facial expressions and body language to convey meaning.
These nonverbal cues are often overlooked in traditional educational settings. By incorporating these elements into the virtual reality game, the study demonstrated that students could better grasp complex scientific concepts.
The researchers collaborated with a middle school science teacher and an English as a New Language teacher to develop the game, which was tailored to the science curriculum. The immersive VR version allowed students to interact with the virtual environment, offering deeper engagement than the desktop mode, which focused more on textual information.
“One of the key takeaways of the study is that teachers should pay close attention to using visuals and hand gestures to help students process information,” Ding added.
Although high-tech VR equipment may not be readily available in every classroom, Ding emphasized that teachers could still employ these innovative methods to enhance learning. Simple techniques like using more visuals and incorporating hand gestures can make a significant difference.
The study, published in Learning and Instruction, was co-authored by Eunkyoung Elaine Cha, a doctoral student in UGA’s Department of Workforce Education and Instructional Technology.
This pioneering research underscores the importance of exploring new educational technologies and teaching methods to support diverse learners, ultimately paving the way for more inclusive and effective education systems.