Programming Extended Realities (XR) for STEM Educators: Kai’s Clan Edition

Purpose & objective

EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE
STEM educators and curriculum designers constantly grapple with the integration of computing technologies into their professional practice. Over the past decade, STEM educators have studied how their disciplines crosscut computer science technologies, including various robotics kits and programmable tools. Similarly, the arrival of extended realities (XR), including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, is ever present in our STEM education curriculum. Many may perceive XR and programmable robots to have limited similitude due to the dichotomy between virtual worlds and physical mechanics. However, teaching STEM students how to manipulate a virtual world has recently become a 21st-century skill. There are apparent applications and benefits to integrating XR, programming, and STEM for learning. During this deep dive creation lab, a teaching method for integrating XR and programming cohesively into STEM teaching will be shared along with the methodology’s alignment with a programmable XR tool, Kai’s Clan.

PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORK
This presentation will introduce a pedagogical framework for coaching educators on programming extended realities (XR) for teaching and learning STEM called the PXR4STEM method (visual model will be presented). The instructional framework will be presented. The framework consists of three overlapping concepts: programming pedagogy, STEM content, and XR technological knowledge. The overlapping intersection of each concept creates a tri-Venn Diagram. Below is relevant literature as to how and why each intersection (1), (2), (3) is the foundation of the PXR4STEM method. The PXR4STEM cross-section (4) details the how our teaching method leverage crossection (1), (2), & (3) when using the Kai's Clan technology.

Intersection 1 (Programming Pedagogy X STEM Content):
Educational systems worldwide have required their curriculums to include computational thinking and programming in tandem with other STEM disciplines due to their versatility (Code.org, 2017; Toikkanen & Leinonen, 2017). Research shows that STEM and computational thinking incorporate similar underlying concepts in terms of problem-solving and abstract thinking. Although programming techniques are procedural in nature, understanding coding structures conceptually introduces more complexity. The crosscutting of computational thinking and STEM has proven to be an avenue to help teachers conceptualize the integration of these two areas into existing content and curricula (Estapa, et al. 2017; Gadanidis, 2017; Gleasman & Kim, 2020).

Intersection 2 (XR Technological Knowledge X STEM Content):
XR technologies, including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) create engaging activities and scenarios that provide students the opportunity to interact in an immersive learning experience. Students can experience different learning objectives through actual engagement with the objects. Instead of looking at microscopic processes or physics lessons from a book or 2D computer screen, students can interact in an environment they control and experience in real time. Furthermore, XR technology has allowed for new learning environments that support students’ retention of information, engagement, skill training, and learning outcomes (Yannier et al., 2020). This opportunity is primarily being integrated and implemented into higher education but is intended for STEM educational usage.

Intersection 3 (XR Technological Knowledge X Programming Pedagogy)
XR has been used to teach Python programming through AR robotics. An AR robot is similar to a physical robot, which encourages the notion that AR technology can replace physical robots as a motivational tool for programming (Kurniawan, Lee, & Sockalingam, 2021). VR can help facilitate an Embodied Coding Environment (ECE), which differs from existing platforms, by creating a programming environment that utilizes an interactive environment (Siddhant, Oka, & Nachamma, 2022). This type of virtual environment provides programmers with the ability to use space and body in the programming process. Kai's Clan integrates AR and VR to help a learner program and accomplish STEM tasks. Educators require both XR Technological Knowledge and programming pedagogical strategies to integrate Kai's Clan into their classrooms.

PXR4STEM Tri-Cross-section (4): XR in education has been studied and reviewed, but none of the studies show the approach to developing customizable educational content through programming. The creation of this XR lesson requires educators to have specific technical skills and pedagogical storytelling (Meccawy, 2022). XR has the potential to enhance teaching with unique learning experiences. However, integrating programming, XR applications, and STEM pedagogy is still uncharted territory. A combination of strategies, such as scaffolding programming pathways to highlight virtual STEM learning opportunities, Virtual debugging activities, and virtual peer-to-peer programming techniques, will be presented as a part of the PXR4STEM teaching method during the presentation.

KAI'S CLAN & PXR4STEM: AN ESSENTIAL TEACHING APPROACH
STEM courses have extended well past the four walls of a classroom. Extended Reality (XR) has created a conceptual bridge between education and programming. “Many concepts in STEM topics, such as microscopic biological processes or the lifecycle of a star, are impossible to show in a traditional classroom and may be hard concepts for students to grasp just from hearing a lecture and taking notes” (Roizin & Wang, 2021, p.753; Mierzejewski). By using XR, students were able to experience the impossible and improve their problem-solving skills. However, there is still a need for more research on pedagogies that assist in integrating XR-tools into curricula (Roizin & Wang, 2021). Programming has been integrated into many STEM-related concepts. “Learning to teach mathematics with block-based programming requires pre-service teachers to take both content knowledge of programming and mathematics into account while applying pedagogical knowledge (Gleasman and Kim, 2020, p.58).

XR has had a significant impact on many programming platforms. Virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) are increasingly used in industry, whether for training or productivity. The use of programming in XR is not a new idea. However, using XR to teach programming is a relatively new concept. This way of thinking has allowed programmers to produce new processes and techniques by using their own body’s motion in response to a virtual environment or problem space. Limited applications have combined all three concepts of STEM education, programming, and XR. Kai’s Clan provides an experience where all three concepts are combined and can be utilized to model the PXR4STEM approach. Kai’s Clan creates the unique ability to integrate STEM concepts with programmable robotics within an XR environment.

Outline

Pedagogy Introduction (20 minutes): Attendees will learn about the PXR4STEM teaching framework and overview the Kai's Clan platform.

Peer-to-Peer Math and Science Design Activities (60 Minutes): Attendees will pair together and complete a programming XR STEM activity using Kai's Clan. The activity will be focused on either math or science learning standards.

Group Reflective Practioner Activity (10 minutes): Attendees will remix the activities for their classroom and reflect on their learning experiences through the principles of the PXR4STEM framework.

Supporting research

Code.org (2017). Recommendations for States Developing Computer Science Teacher Pathways. https://code.org/files/TeacherPathwayRecommendations.pdf, 2017.

Estapa, A., Hutchison, A, Nadolny, L. (2017) Recommendations to support computational thinking in the elementary classroom. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 77(4) 25– 29.

Gadanidis, G. (2017) Five affordances of computational thinking to support elementary mathematics education. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 36(2) 143–151.

Gleasman, C., ChanMin, K. (2020) Pre-service teacher’s use of block-based programming and computational thinking to teach elementary mathematics. Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education, 6(1) 52–90.

Kurniawan, O., Lee, N., & Sockalingam, N. (2021). Is augmented reality robot as effective as physical robot in motivating students to learn programming? 2021 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology & Education (TALE), Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, 2021, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.1109/TALE52509.2021.9678820.

Meccawy M. (2022). Creating an Immersive XR Learning Experience: A Roadmap for Educators. Electronics. 11(21):3547. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11213547

Roizin. E. & Wang, M. X-reality (xr) and immersive learning: Theories, use cases, and future development. 2021 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology & Education (TALE), Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, 2021, pp. 751-754, doi: 10.1109/TALE52509.2021.9678595.

Siddhant, S., Oka, K., & Nachamma, S. (2022). Extended Reality for Enhanced Learning beyond the Classroom: Three Pandemic-Proof Prototypes (SSRN Scholarly Paper 4026964). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4026964

Toikkanen, T., Leinonen, T. (2017). The code abc mooc: Experiences from a coding and computational thinking mooc for finnish primary school teachers. In Springer Emerging research, practice, and policy on computational thinking, p. 239–248.

Wu, W., Luo, Y. {Vivien}, Castronovo, F., Liang, A., Gomez, F., Kassis, S., & Wolcott, A. (2023). Barriers and pathways to use extended reality in stem classrooms: Perspectives of key stakeholders. 4, 0–0. https://doi.org/10.35490/EC3.2023.305

Yannier, N., Hudson, S. E. & Koedinger, K. R. (2020). Active Learning is About More Than Hands-On: A Mixed-Reality AI System to Support STEM Education. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 30, 74-96.