Abstract:

AR/VR-trainings can engage multiple senses more intensely than traditional trainings. Furthermore, physical laws can be suspended, extreme situations experienced in a risk-free manner, and learners can be provided contextual information as an overlay to reality. The ARSuL-Project (“Augmented Reality Based Support for Learning in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Industry”), subsidized by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, aims to promote the development and evaluation of AR/VR based support functions and learning offers for craft enterprises and their employees. The HVAC industry requires a continuing education and flexibility of employees as product cycles are constantly becoming shorter.

The project consortium used findings from a user-centered requirements analysis to derive target group specific design elements for AR/VR trainings [1]. With the help of these design elements, first prototypes and demonstrators were produced, tested and then evaluated with apprentices and trained workers. The 58 participants experienced identical learning content in a comparative setup with separate VR, AR, and classical trainings. The holistic evaluation framework used to assess the learning experience of the participants is outlined in the paper proposal “Holistic Evaluation of AR/VR-Trainings in the ARSuL-Project”, also submitted to INTED2019.

In this paper, the prototypes / demonstrators are presented together with the evaluation results from the test setting, in order to answer the following questions:
- How did the participants experience and evaluate the VR, AR, and the classical training in comparison?
- What problems did they face when using the developed prototypes / demonstrators?
- What suggestions for improvements can be derived from these findings?

Finally, the identified improvements will be cross-checked with conclusions from an analysis of the ARSuL AR/VR design elements with regards to their conformity with the principles of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework [2, 3]. UDL tries to overcome the “One-Size-Fits-All” approach by facilitating individualized learning. We consider this important also for the ARSuL trainings for the German HVAC industry, as the industry lacks skilled workers and young talents, why a growing number of apprentices has only weak prior school education and often also weak German language skills. Consequently, a more and more heterogeneous group of learners needs to be addressed with the trainings.

References:
[1] J. Beckmann, K. Menke, and P. Weber, “AR and VR meet Boiler Suits: Deriving Design Elements for AR / VR Trainings in the HVAC Industry,” in Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2018, pp. 1533–1542, 2018.
[2] CAST, Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Accessed 28 November 2018, Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org.
[3] J. Beckmann, K. Menke, and P. Weber, “Universal Design for Learning in Augmented and Virtual Reality Trainings,” in Universal Access Through Inclusive Instructional Design: International Perspectives on UDL (S. L. Gronseth and E. M. Dalton, eds), London: Routledge, accepted and forthcoming in 2019.

Keywords:

Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Training Evaluation, Universal Design for Learning, Further Education, Apprenticeship.