How to leverage reflection in case of inquiry learning? the study of awareness tools in the context of virtual and remote laboratory

Abstract

In this paper we design a set of awareness and reflection tools aiming at engaging learners in the deep learning process during a practical activity carried out through a virtual and remote laboratory. These tools include: (i) a social awareness tool revealing to learners their current and general levels of performance, but also enabling the comparison between their own and their peers’ performance; (ii) a reflection-on-action tool, implemented as timelines, allowing learners to deeply analyze both their own completed work and the tasks achieved by peers; (iii) a reflection-in-action tool acting as a live video player to let users easily see what others are doing. An experimentation involving 80 students was conducted in an authentic learning setting about operating system administration; the participants evaluated the system only slightly higher than traditional computational environments when it comes to leverage reflection and critical thinking, even if they evaluated the system as good in terms of usability.