Creating ambassadors of planet Earth: The Overview Effect in K12 education
Broers,Anna Louwerse,Max Postma,Marie
Broers,Anna
Louwerse,Max
Postma,Marie
Abstract
The overview effect is the commonly reported experience of astronauts viewing planet Earth from space and the subsequent reflection on and processing of this experience. The overview effect is associated with feelings of awe, self-transcendence, and a change of perspective and identity that manifest themselves in taking steps toward protecting the fragile ecosystem. In the current study, we investigated whether the overview effect can be obtained in school children when simulated using virtual reality (VR) and whether the effect has a positive impact on learning gains. Using questionnaires and attention data in an existing simulation environment used in the school system, we showed that the VR simulation elicits an overview effect experience. Moreover, the experience yields learning gains in the domain of astrophysics. These findings are in line with past evidence regarding the positive impact of awe on learning and can be used to support further investigations of the relation between the overview effect and behavioral changes, specifically for educational purposes.
Description
Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the SpaceBuzz Foundation and their partners for cooperation in relation to this project as well as the VSNU Digital Society program. In addition, the authors would also like to thank Maarten Horden and Rob Vossen for their help in the VR simulation and data analysis. A related article of this research was submitted to Cognitive Science Society Conference 2020. Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2020 van Limpt - Broers, Postma and Louwerse. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Date
2020-10-07
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Research Projects
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Keywords
AWE, DIFFICULTIES, QUESTIONNAIRE, SELF, awe, education, immersion, overview effect, virtual reality, SDG 4 - Quality Education
Citation
Broers, A, Louwerse, M & Postma, M 2020, 'Creating ambassadors of planet Earth : The Overview Effect in K12 education', Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, 540996, pp. 540996. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.540996