Multisensory Immersion as a Modeling Environment for Learning Complex Scientific Concepts

In every aspect of our knowledge-based society, fluency in understanding complex information spaces is an increasingly crucial skill (Dede and Lewis, 1995). In research and industry, many processes depend on peolple utilizing complicated representations of information (Rieber, 1994). Increasingly, workers must navigate complex information spaces to locate data they need, must find patterns in information for problem solving, and must use sophisticated representations of information to communicate their ideas (Kohn, 1994; Studt, 1995). Further, to make informed decisions about public-policy issues such as global warming and environmental contamination, citizens must comprehend the strenghts and limitations of scientific models based on multivariate interactions. In many academic areas, students’ success now depends on their ability to envision and manipulate abstract multidimensional information spaces (Gordin and Pea, 1995). Fields in which students struggle with mastering these types of representations include mathematics, science, engineering, statistics, and finance.

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