Second Life as a Pedagogical Tool for Improving Statistics Homework Sessions

Learning statistical concepts can be difficult for students because of the content as well as interactions between learning styles and content presentation.Although homework is given to promote time-on-task and student learning, it is largely unguided.This project used the multi-user virtual environment, Second Life, as a way to direct learning through interactive and collaborative virtual homework sessions.The content matter for this exercise focused on hypothesis testing and types of statistical error.Students met in groups on the Second Life Ohio University campus in the Human Factors and Ergonomics virtual lab.They initially worked in teams to solve statistical questions related to usability research on cell phone performance.After working in teams, students re-assembled in the lab to perform independent assignments.These independent assignments utilized a modified version of the Groupthink exercise (originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)) and rewarded students for their individual answers as well as entire team performance.Optimal performance required correct individual answers as well as correct answers for the entire team.In this way, the groups who communicated the most during the exercise and proceeded with the game only when everyone understood the concepts, scored the highest.This paper will discuss pedagogical issues with learning in virtual worlds, discuss the effectiveness of the game, and suggest methods to improve learning.Future research will focus on the use of Second Life for expanded statistics sessions and for human factors and ergonomics labs.