The outlook of learning through metaverse technology from the perspective of teachers in the science education

  • Esmaeil Jafari Faculty of Education and Psychology, Department of Education, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Keywords: Metaverse, Science Class, Iranian Education System

Abstract

As a personal avatar, Metaverse can be very effective in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classrooms such as science classes that are practical and experimental. In this article, the aim is to report a study related to the perception of teachers and their attitudes towards the use of metaverse tools in teaching elementary science classes in Iranian education system. The study uses qualitative content analysis as well as quantitative analysis represented by descriptive statistics. The former includes of semi-structured interviews with 28 samples from two groups of pre-service teachers (inexperienced) and in-service teachers (experienced), which participants were given the opportunity to express their perceptions of Metaverse tools through interviews. The latter comprises a survey was designed to get their attitudes towards the potential use of Metaverse technology. The results showed that the nature of inexperienced ‘digital native’ is in line with the metaverse world and this group had relatively high confidence in using Metaverse in their teaching. Generating these new ideas requires a degree of experience that pre-service teachers do not have. However, this gap can be bridged through a group of experienced teachers who can use their experience to help inexperienced teachers understand how such tools can be integrated into practice.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References


Agabrian, M. (2006). Analiza de conţinut. Iaşi: Polirom. Retrieved from https://dokumen.tips/documents/agabrian-mircea-analiza-de-continut.html


Amaani Tehrani, M., Aliasgari, M. & Abbaasi, E. (2016). The design and construction of an efficient model for teaching science in Junior High School. QJOE, 32(1), 9–32. Retrieved from http://qjoe.ir/article-1-147-en.html


Aminzadeh, L. (2015). Examining the change of Iran’s educational system from plan 5-3-3-1 to plan 6-3-3. In, 1th International Conference on New Research in Industrial Management and Engineering Islamic Azad University, Tehran, 1–13. Retrieved from https://civilica.com/doc/435073


Anderson, J. & Rainie, L. (2022). The metaverse in 2040. Washington, USA. NC: Pew Research Center.


Anderson, R. (2007). Thematic content analysis (TCA). In, Descriptive presentation of qualitative data, 1–4. Retrieved from https://rosemarieanderson.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ThematicContentAnalysis.pdf


Arkhi, H. G. (2018). Factors affecting e-learning admission from the perspective of secondary high school students based on Davis Technology Admission Model. Doctoral Dissertation, M. Sc. Thesis, Mazandaran University.


Aydin, S. (2023). Teachers’ perceptions of the use of the metaverse in foreign language teaching and learning. In, Durak, G. & Cankaya, S. (Eds.),. Shaping the future of online learning: Education in the metaverse. Hershey: IGI Global, 201–219.


Barry, D. M. et al. (2009). International comparison for problem based learning in metaverse. The ICEE and ICEER. Retrieved from https://www.ineer.org/Events/ICEEiCEER2009/full_papers/full_paper_145.pdf


Barry, D. M. et al. (2015). Evaluation for students’ learning manner using eye blinking system in metaverse. Procedia Computer Science, 60, 1195–1204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2015.08.181


Batane, T. & Ngwako, A. (2017). Technology use by pre-service teachers during teaching practice: Are new teachers embracing technology right away in their first teaching experience? Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 33(1), 48–61. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.2299


Behbahani, A. (2010). Technical and vocational education and the structure of education system in Iran. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 1071–1075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.237


Bishop, P. & Wackler, T. (2017). Education strategies for Generation Y. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 48(6), 248–250. https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20170517-02


Charmaz, K. (2011). Grounded theory methods in social justice research. In, Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 359–380.


Cigdemoglu, C., Arslan, H. O. & Akay, H. (2011). A phenomenological study of instructors’ experiences on an open-source learning management system. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 28, 790–795. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.144


Cilesiz, S. (2011). A phenomenological approach to experiences with technology: Current state, promise, and future directions for research. Educational Technology Research and Development, 59(4), 487–510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-010-9173-2


Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. 3rd edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.


Creswell, J. W. & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. New York, NY: SAGE Publications.


Dharmawansa, A. D. et al. (2015). Introducing and evaluating the behavior of non-verbal features in the virtual learning. International Education Studies, 8(6), 82–94. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v8n6p82


Dunleavy, M., Dede, C. & Mitchell, R. (2009). Affordances and limitations of immersive, participatory augmented reality simulations for teaching and learning. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18(1), 7–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-008-9119-1


Dwivedi, Y. K. et al. (2022). Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy. International Journal of Information Management, 66, 102542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102542


Elshan, E. et al. (2022). Understanding the design elements affecting user acceptance of intelligent agents: Past, present and future. Information Systems Frontiers, 24(3), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-021-10230-9


Hasanpour, A., Batmani, S. & Bolandhematan, K. (2022). Barriers to multicultural education in Iran. Journal for Multicultural Education, 16(4), 350–361. https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-10-2021-0185


Howard, S. K. & Gigliotti, A. (2016). Having a go: Looking at teachers’ experience of risk-taking in technology integration. Education and Information Technologies, 21(5), 1351–1366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-015-9386-4


Kimmons, R. (2022). Mixed methods. Education Research. Retrieved from https://open.byu.edu/education_research/mixed_methods#


Kuleto, V. et al. (2021). Extended reality in higher education, a responsible innovation approach for Generation Y and Generation Z. Sustainability, 13(21), 11814. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111814


Lasica, I. E., Meletiou-Mavrotheris, M. & Katzis, K. (2020). Augmented reality in lower secondary education: A teacher professional development program in Cyprus and Greece. Education Sciences, 10(4), 121. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10040121


Lei, J. (2009). Digital natives as preservice teachers: What technology preparation is needed? Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 25(3), 87–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402454.2009.10784615


MacCallum, K., & Parsons, D. (2019, September). Teacher perspectives on augmented reality: The potential of metaverse for learning. In C. Glahn, R. Power & E. Tan (Eds.), 18th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (pp. 21-28). Delft, Netherlands. Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/d/210597


Marini, A. et al. (2022). Mobile augmented reality learning media with metaverse to improve student learning outcomes in science class. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 16(7), 99–115. http://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v16i07.25727


Martin, M. O. & Mullis, I. V. (2013). TIMSS and PIRLS 2011: Relationships among reading, mathematics, and science achievement at the fourth grade – Implications for early learning. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED545256.pdf


Mistretta, S. (2022). The metaverse – An alternative education space. AI, Computer Science and Robotics Technology, (0), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.5772/acrt.05


Moser, C. A. & Kalton, G. (2017). Survey methods in social investigation. London: Routledge.


Mullis, I. V., Martin, M. O. & Von Davier, M. (2021). TIMSS 2023 assessment frameworks. TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center. Retrieved from https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2023/frameworks/pdf/T23_Frameworks_Introduction.pdf


Mystakidis, S. (2022). Metaverse. Encyclopedia, 2(1), 486–497. https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia2010031


Nimon, S. (2007). Generation Y and higher education: The ‘other’ Y2K. Journal of Institutional Research, 13(1), 24–41.


Orcos, L. & Magreñán, Á. A. (2018). The hologram as a teaching medium for the acquisition of STEM contents. International Journal of Learning Technology, 13(2), 163–177. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJLT.2018.092097


Prensky, M. (2001). The games generations: How learners have changed. Digital Game-Based Learning, 1(1), 1–26.


Rachmadtullah, R. et al. (2023). Elementary school teachers’ perceptions of the potential of metaverse technology as a transformation of interactive learning media in Indonesia. International Journal of Innovative Research and Scientific Studies, 6(1), 128–136. https://doi.org/10.53894/ijirss.v6i1.1119


Shaffer, B. (2021). Iran is more than persia ethnic politics in the Islamic Republic. Washington: FDD Press (Foundation for Defense of Democracies).


Snelson, C. & Hsu, Y. C. (2020). Educational 360-degree videos in virtual reality: A scoping review of the emerging research. TechTrends, 64(3), 404–412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-019-00474-3


Sonvilla-Weiss, S. (2008). VISIBLE-learning to act in the metaverse. Wien: Springer.


Sriram, G. K. (2022). A comprehensive survey on metaverse. International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology, 4(2), 772–775.


Statistical Center of Iran. (2020). Iran statistical yearbook 2019–2020. Retrieved from http://www.amar.org.ir/


Taguchi, R. et al. (2011). A multilingual problem-based learning environment for awareness promotion. In, The Sixteenth International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics (150–153). Oita, Japan.


Takmil Homayoun, N. (2006). Education in Iran. Tehran: Office of Cultural Research.


Tang, A. et al. (2003). Comparative effectiveness of augmented reality in object assembly. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 73–80. Association for Computing Machinery, USA.


Wachira, P. & Keengwe, J. (2011). Technology integration barriers: Urban school mathematics teachers’perspectives. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 20(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-010-9230-y


Wu, H. K. et al. (2013). Current status, opportunities, and challenges of augmented reality in education. Computers & Education, 62, 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.024
Published
2023-10-10
How to Cite
Jafari E. (2023). The outlook of learning through metaverse technology from the perspective of teachers in the science education. Research in Learning Technology, 31. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v31.2933
Section
Original Research Articles