TY  - JOUR
A1  - Huang, Yizhen
A1  - Richter, Eric
A1  - Kleickmann, Thilo
A1  - Wiepke, Axel
A1  - Richter, Dirk
T1  - Classroom complexity affects student teachers’ behavior in a VR classroom
JF  - Computers & education : an international journal
N2  - Student teachers often struggle to keep track of everything that is happening in the classroom, and particularly to notice and respond when students cause disruptions. The complexity of the classroom environment is a potential contributing factor that has not been empirically tested. In this experimental study, we utilized a virtual reality (VR) classroom to examine whether classroom complexity affects the likelihood of student teachers noticing disruptions and how they react after noticing. Classroom complexity was operationalized as the number of disruptions and the existence of overlapping disruptions (multidimensionality) as well as the existence of parallel teaching tasks (simultaneity). Results showed that student teachers (n = 50) were less likely to notice the scripted disruptions, and also less likely to respond to the disruptions in a comprehensive and effortful manner when facing greater complexity. These results may have implications for both teacher training and the design of VR for training or research purpose. This study contributes to the field from two aspects: 1) it revealed how features of the classroom environment can affect student teachers' noticing of and reaction to disruptions; and 2) it extends the functionality of the VR environment-from a teacher training tool to a testbed of fundamental classroom processes that are difficult to manipulate in real-life.
KW  - Augmented and virtual reality
KW  - Simulations
KW  - Improving classroom
KW  - teaching
KW  - Media in education
KW  - Pedagogical issues
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.104100
SN  - 0360-1315
SN  - 1873-782X
VL  - 163
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  -