Research Information System
World Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, Antalya, Turkey, 13 - 15 November 2014, pp.1
In the recent years, the educational environments within the internet and the development of web-based technology have enabled end-users to access a wide range of online resources. Day by day, accessing this kind of educational environments has presented a virtual reality getting closer to be real one. So, it is possible to design more realistic educational content, even it is necessary because virtual environments have frequently been preferred by our students age profile. In this sense, the studies of the use of virtual worlds for e-learning highlight the significant achievement of positive outcomes. Therefore, it is proclaimed that the interaction of face-to-face and the feeling of social presence can be provided within these environments, there are also some studies inquire how to get benefit from this proclaim. Nevertheless, there are some principles had to be carefully considered before and during the designing process, indeed it depends on its intended purpose(s). One of the most important items is the intercompatibility between the real world and the virtual world. Consequently, the aim of virtual environment is to provide 3D spaces and objects which are similar to the real life. In this respect, the spaces and objects of Mathlife in the scope of this study have been completed based on the principles of research-based design method. Initially the design principles and then the design stages have cyclically been considered. For this study, in the first cycle, 20 students (10 male and 10 female) and 7 teachers (3 maths and 4 class) and in the second cycle, 15 students (7 male and 8 female) and 7 teachers (3 maths and 4 class) have been interviewed. The introduction presentations of spaces and objects were also conducted prior to the Mathlife interviews. In the first cycle interviews, it was released that in the mall participants have preferred stores (shoes, clothing, sports, technology, toys), restaurants (burger, pizzeria), cinema, Go-kart, ice rink, paintball, amusement park, etc.. Based on these preferences, the spaces, except an amusement park and a paintball, have been designed. The introduction presentations in the second cycle interviews, it was also realised that participants have respectively preferred the spaces of “Cinema, Gokart, Ice rink, Sink”. In addition, based on the participants’ comments, it was decided that a farm and animals have been designed.