Evaluating the Effect of Large-Format Stereoscopic Displays on Student Learning in Introductory College Physical Geography Classes

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Stereoscopic displays are now common in movie theatres, are available for home televisions, and are increasingly being found in higher education classrooms. Although 3-D stereoscopic images can generate great excitement, a key question is whether they truly provide educational benefit to the student. This research proposes to examine this question by comparing the effectiveness of 3-D stereoscopic images with 3-D non-stereoscopic images in introductory physical geography classes at both the University of Kansas (KU) and Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU). During the first year of the research, 3-D instructional material will be developed that is appropriate for introductory physical geography classes and this material will be used to teach classes at both schools using non-stereoscopic images. In the second year, the 3-D material will be utilized to teach these same classes, but the material will be presented stereoscopically. The effectiveness of non-stereoscopic and stereoscopic presentations will be compared by analyzing student responses to questions posed in class and on exams, for example by measuring the speed and accuracy of answering multiple choice questions, and by analyzing the quality of responses to essay and diagram questions. In addition, individual interviews will be conducted to examine the learning behavior of successful and poor learners, and focus groups will be used to evaluate the impact of these displays on the 5-10% of those who cannot see stereo. By testing at both KU and HINU, it will be possible to examine the role that cultural differences might play in the perception and usefulness of stereoscopic material. Due to high enrollments in introductory physical geography courses, the proposed research promises to impact the learning of tens of thousands of students in geography courses in higher education. More generally, by extrapolating the experimental results to courses outside of geography and to the K-12 environment, there is the potential to impact millions of students.