Haptic interactions to support biology
education: navigating the cell
Ozan Tokatli1 , Megan Tracey2 , Natasha Barrett5 , Faustina Hwang1 , Ros
Johnson4 , Chris Jones5 , Kathryn Macaulay3 , Mary Webb2 , and William
Harwin1
2
1
School of Systems Engineering, University of Reading, UK
Department of Education and Professional Studies, Kings College, London
3
Abingdon School, Oxfordshire
4
The Abbey School, Reading
5
School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, UK
Abstract. An unexplored application area for haptics is in secondary
education. This is a challenging environment because not only does it
shift the role of the haptic interface from an aid to learning a skill to
become a mechanism to manipulate 3D virtual content, but it adds further technical and educational challenges. In this work, we investigate
the efficacy of haptic system in TEL of science classes.
Keywords: secondary education, scaling, biology, haptic interactions
1
Introduction
It has long been recognised that the ability to visualise and to manipulate objects in the imagination is a crucial skill for learning science (for example see the
review of 3D visualisation in chemistry[8]) but this is not easily achieved through
the 2-D representations and static 3-D models frequently used in science classrooms[9]. Technology enhanced learning (TEL) can support the development
of visualisation skills[6], the learning of difficult concepts and enable hypothesis testing in areas of science learning where direct manipulation of real-world
objects is not possible[7, 9]. However TEL in science has mainly consisted of
simulations, animations, modelling, measurement and control devices and online learning environments, where the interaction remains largely one of mouse
clicks and windows menus, an interface method that is poorly-suited for 3D
interactions[5].
Haptic interfaces are synonymous with the haptic sense, that is a sensorymotor interaction, that underlies natural interactions and helps to calibrate visual cues[4]. Haptic technologies give the learner a sensation of kinaesthetic feedback in conjunction with auditory and visual sensory input while the learner is
engaged in the cognitive processing necessary to learn a procedure. In this work,
we are investigating the use of haptics in TEL in science classes in secondary
schools and presenting our preliminary results.
2
2
Tokatli, Tracey, Webb, Hwang, Macaulay, Johnson, Harwin, Barrett, Jones
Educational principles
Any system designed for TEL needs to consider a range of issues. Evidently
the use of technology in this situation must have the potential to enhance or
transform the learning experience and hence enable better learning. The topic
chosen for TEL should be one which is challenging for students to learn, where
misconceptions are common and where such difficulties are a result of current
limitations in pedagogical approaches.
Fig. 1. Context of a haptic based TEL approach showing student and teacher pedagogical practices (adapted from [10] and [3])
The complexity, scale and importance of cell biology makes it an interesting
domain to introduce better interaction with content via haptic interactions. The
problems experienced by students in visualising the three dimensional nature of
cells may be a consequence of the difficulty of making direct observation of cell
processes. Thus most educational content is in terms of cross sectional schematics, or observations via a light microscope, and although more educational material is now available as interactive websites [1] or high quality animations[2]
these still do not allow students to explore on their own terms.
A cell simulation that allows students to rotate, scale, dissect, construct
and observe cell processes may help to reinforce specific educational concepts
and may foster collaborative and active learning. The experience of teaching
cell biology at the Abbey school seems to indicate that students are quick to
learn the names and functions of the parts of the cell, but have more difficulty
constructing relationships such as scale or cell machinery. A further example
among students about to transition to university was that they did not realise
how small a protein is compared to a mitochondrion.
Navigating the cell
3
3
Preliminary Results
We conducted a pilot study with undergraduate biology students and using a
plant cell model. Preliminary results of the pilot study can be found in the
following sections.
3.1
Equipment
As seen in Fig. 3.1, a pair of students (a pilot and a navigator) can accomplish the
given task. While pilot can interact and manipulate the virtual world through the
haptic display and use a VR headset to observe the virtual world, the navigator,
on the other hand, can observe the world through a computer screen and has
the ability to change the scale of the virtual objects, switch between the phases
of the task by using the user interface.
For the pilot study a haptic system with the following parts is used. The
haptic display is a Touch 3D robot which has 3 actuated DoF with a 3 DoF
stylus. An Oculus Rift, which is mounted to ground, is used for the pilot student.
This display acts as a virtual microscope and since it is not mounted on the head
of the student, interaction of the pilot and the navigator become more fluent.
Navigator student follows the virtual world using a conventional 2D screen. The
virtual environment and haptic interactions are coded in Chai3D (version 3.1.1)
which allows easy integration of the hardware with the virtual world.
Oculus Rift
Navigator Display
Haptic Display
Virtual Cell
Model
Pilot
Navigator
Fig. 2. Students working on the haptic plant cell.
4
3.2
Tokatli, Tracey, Webb, Hwang, Macaulay, Johnson, Harwin, Barrett, Jones
Participants
Six first-year undergraduate biology students (all female, ages 19-22) participated in the study. 5 of the participants had no prior interaction experience
with a 3D computer system and 1 had had tried this technology previously.
3.3
Task
The task for the trials consisted of three phases. In this first phase, students
started with a view of multiple cells and they freely interacted with the virtual
world. This interaction included touching, rotating the virtual objects, changing
the viewpoint. Once a single cell is selected, navigator switched the virtual world
to its second phase where a single plant cell was displayed. Like the first phase,
haptic interaction with the virtual world was available through the haptic display. Moreover, this phase, also the upcoming third phase, allowed manipulating
the position and orientation of virtual organelles. This phase is crucial for the
exploration of the cell structure. Pilot chose the nucleus of the cell and navigator
switched to the final phase of the task. The aim of the third task was to explore
the different layers of the plant cell nucleus and finally to discover the hidden
DNA sequence scribed on the nucleolus. To discover this hidden sequence, the
pilot had to use the haptic display for orienting the viewpoint or the grabbed
organelle while the navigator adjusted the scaling of the organelles.
3.4
Results
During the trials, we have observed and video recorded the participants, after
they are finished with the task, a questionnaire is filled.
It has been observed that the students are highly engaged in the task. Even
though majority of the participants do not have priory experience, they had
quickly adopted the system and did not exhibited any difficulty in manipulating
the virtual world. The overall usability of the system is rated between good and
excellent.
Having a virtual 3D cell model and being able to manipulate the organelles
are appreciated by the students. On the other hand, cursor size, background
image and locating the cursor are criticised by the participants. Moreover, as a
general opinion, selection of objects with the haptic device is considered to be
open to development.
Finally, some of the quotes from the participants which show their enthusiasm
are shared below.
Quote 1
Quote 2
Quote 3
Navigating the cell
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5
Conclusions
Introducing haptic interactions into the TEL environment of secondary school
science education has several challenges but, if successful may reinforce both the
fundamental structures in a well chosen science curriculum, but also facilitate the
individuals ability to conceptualise manipulations in space (translation, rotation
and scale) and time. The addition of these additional dimensions will provide a
technical challenge to both the engineering and rendering of the approach and
the curriculum.
Acknowledgements. The authors thank the participants for their valuable
feedback and are pleased to acknowledge support for this work from the Leverhulme Foundation project ‘3D Learning in a Rich, Cooperative Haptic Environment’. We are also pleased to thank our colleagues on this project Jon Rashid,
Carleen Houbart, Phil James, Richard Fisher, and Simon Bliss.
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