Publications

Forthcoming
McGivney, E., Forshaw, T., Medeiros, R., Sun, M., & Grotzer, T. (Forthcoming). Addressing emotions and beliefs for vulnerable jobseekers with virtual reality. Education and Information Technologies.
2023
McGivney, E., Forshaw, T., Medeiros, R., Sun, M., & Grotzer, T. (2023). Opening the “black box” of VR for workforce development: Investigating learners’ device, usage, and identities. Proceedings of the Immersive Learning Research Network. . Immersive Learning Research Network 2023. ilrn_newtemplatesubmission_4.30.2023.pdf
McGivney, E. (2023). Improving technology-enhanced immersive learning with design-based implementation research. International Conference on the Learning Sciences . International Society of the Learning Sciences. icls2023_cameraready.pdf
Queiroz, A. C. M., M. M. R. P., McGivney, E., Liu, S., Anderson, C., Beamns, B., DeVeaux, C., Fazier, K., et al. (2023). Collaborative tasks in immersive virtual reality increase learning. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning-CSCL 2023 . International Society of the Learning Sciences.Abstract

Advances in immersive virtual reality (IVR) are creating more computer-supported collaborative learning environments, but there is little research explicating how collaboration in IVR impacts learning. We ran a quasi-experimental study with 80 participants targeting ocean literacy learning, varying the manner in which participants interacted in IVR to investigate how the design of collaborative IVR experiences influences learning. Results are discussed through the lens of collaborative cognitive learning theory. Participants that collaborated to actively build a new environment in IVR scored higher for learning than participants who only watched an instructional guide’s avatar, or participants who watched the guide’s avatar and subsequently discussed what they learned while in IVR. Moreover, feeling negative emotions, feeling active in the environment, and feeling bonded to the group members negatively correlated with learning. Results shed light on the mechanisms behind how collaborative tasks in IVR can support learning.

cscl2023-learning-ivr.pdf
2022
Pimentel, D., Fauville, G., Frazier, K., McGivney, E., Rosas, S., & Woolsey, E. (2022). An Introduction to Learning in the Metaverse . Meridian Treehouse. Publisher's Version LearningMetaversePDF
McGivney, E., Tribe, C., & Feng, T. (2022). Remote Learning with Virtual Reality Technologies: Student Mastery, Community, and Agency. Educational Innovations and Emerging Technologies , 2 (1), 56-73. Publisher's Version
Grotzer, T., Gonzalez, E., McGivney, E., & Knippels, M. C. P. J. (2022). Teaching students to grasp complexity in biology education using a “Body of Evidence” approach. In O. B. Z. Assaraf (Ed.), Complexity in Biology Education . Springer Nature. Publisher's Version
Gonzalez, E., Grotzer, T., McGivney, E., & Reilly, J. (2022). Details Matter: How Contrasting Design Features in Two MUVEs Impact Learning Outcomes. Technology, Knowledge, and Learning. , 27. Publisher's Version
2021
McGivney, E. (2021). Immersive Media in Remote Schooling: “I was surprised how engaged I was.” Proceedings of the 2021 Immersive Learning Research Network. ilrn2021-revised_final.pdf
Dede, C., & McGivney, E. (2021). Lifelong Learning for Careers That Don’t Yet Exist. In S. Jagannathan (Ed.), Educational Technologies for Sustainable Development: Fostering Lifelong Learning and Global Transformation . Oxford, Routledge.
McGivney, E. (2021). “You Get to See for Yourself”: Immersive Media to Facilitate Observation and Engagement in Remote Schooling. Proceedings of the 2021 International Society of the Learning Sciences.Abstract
With protracted school closures forcing young people to learn remotely, schools are in urgent need of innovative approaches that can keep students engaged in their education and support their learning. Immersive technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and 360 videos have been shown to increase motivation to learn and student focus, but little is known about their effectiveness in a remote schooling model. This short paper reports preliminary results of a mixed methods case study using 360-degree videos and Google Cardboard viewers in a remote high school civil engineering class. The initial students’ surveys and interviews indicate that students find online learning difficult, but that 360 videos are more engaging than other instructional media and may be particularly useful for facilitating observational learning.
Reilly, J., McGivney, E., Dede, C., & Grotzer, T. (2021). Assessing Science Identity Exploration in Immersive Virtual Environments: A Mixed Methods Approach. Journal of Experimental Education , 89 (3), 468-489. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Despite increasing calls for science education that utilizes immersive technologies and authentically model scientific inquiry, little is known about how well curricula leveraging these technologies impact students’ science identity. This paper presents a mixed-methods study of identity exploration in 7th grade science students using a three-week immersive virtual world-based curriculum. Data sources include interviews and pre-post assessments which are compared to see how one can best assess science identity exploration. Students had statistically significant gains in scientific self-efficacy, and interviews showed an increasing awareness of what it means to be a scientist and how inquiry and argumentation skills can be used across different disciplines.
2020
McGivney, E., & Schneider, B. (2020). ‘This is how I can fit’: Barriers and Facilitating Factors to Gender Inclusion in Makerspace Education. J. Kalir & D. Filipiak (Ed.), Connected Learning Summit . Carnegie Mellon University: ETC Press. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Makerspaces are increasingly seen as a way to draw diverse and interdisciplinary learners together to teach a variety of skills. This qualitative interview study explores the experiences of women in 1 such interdisciplinary makerspace course at a graduate school of education. Drawing on findings from Margolis and Fisher’s (2002) study of women in computer science education, we find that this makerspace course was a productive environment to engage women’s diverse motivations for making and computing, increasing their confidence across domains. Additionally, we find their learning was tied closely to their identities, which shaped how they experienced the course and instructional support, particularly sexism, the congruence of their thinking and learning with course pedagogy, and collaboration and community. The diversity of experiences these women described provides a challenge for instructors but suggests that gaining an understanding of women’s motivations and identities can inform course design and personalized support.
2019
McGivney, E., Gonzalez, E., de los Santos, S., Kamarainen, A., & Grotzer, T. (2019). Improving Understanding of Teaching Practice for Student Learning: A Holistic Measure of Fidelity of Implementation. In National Association of Research in Science Teaching . Baltimore, MD. Paper Link
McGivney, E., & Ho, A. (2019). Female Participation and Attrition in Open Online Courses in Latin America. In Comparative and International Education Society . San Francisco, CA.