Students’ Attitudes and Intentions of Using Technology such as Virtual Reality for Learning about Climate Change and Protecting Endangered Environments A dissertation presented to the faculty of The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Kristina Adanin December 2020 © 2020 Kristina Adanin. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Students’ Attitudes and Intentions of Using Technology such as Virtual Reality for Learning about Climate Change and Protecting Endangered Environments by KRISTINA ADANIN has been approved for Educational Studies and The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education by Greg Kessler Professor of Educational studies Renée A. Middleton Dean, The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education 3 Abstract ADANIN KRISTINA, Ph.D., December 2020, Educational Studies Students’ Attitudes and Intentions of Using Technology such as Virtual Reality for Learning about Climate Change and Protecting Endangered Environments Director of Dissertation: Greg Kessler At a time when the world is facing a range of significant challenges, including a rise in air temperature, rapidly evolving droughts in some areas, and floods, a new technology in education can help inform people of current issues that may not be close to them but, nevertheless, can have a significant impact in the future. Our planet has been warming steadily for over a century, and the preponderance of evidence has pointed at human action as the main contributor to the change (Hansen et al., 2010). The evolution of technology has brought tremendous change. Virtual Reality (VR), 360-degree video, has the potential to bring the environment to the students since it can provide a close to real-life situation. The use of VR for educational purposes has been quite unknown to most school systems. There are many gaps that need to be investigated prior to the effective implementation of VR-learning, such as the factors that influence students’ intention to use it. This study fulfilled some of these gaps by focusing on the potential of using VR for future education and raising awareness of the climate change occurring in remote areas, specifically tropical regions. The findings of this study will hopefully encourage students to play a more responsible role in the development and implementation of VR education worldwide and help enhance the academic quality of courses for instructors 4 and students. This study examined students’ behavioral intentions towards using VR in their learning about climate change utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model of Davis (1989), combined with the spatial presence experience scale (Hartmann et al., 2015). Phase 1 was created in order to understand students’ salient beliefs about the use of VR for educational purposes and learning about climate change. Furthermore, 65 students participated in this phase and reported that VR can be beneficial for educational purposes to learn about global climate change, and 95.2% of participants fully agreed. Phase 2 occurred among 227 students from around the globe. The Phase 2 study was manipulated because students chose their own technology devices to watch the VR content about the last tropical glaciers, thereby making it a pseudo-experimental study. Six variables were used to explain students’ intention of using VR: attitude toward use, perceived usefulness, self-location, perceived ease of use, possible action and behavioral intention. The best predictor of intention to use VR was perceived usefulness. On the other hand, after doing a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the spatial presence variables were modified, which improved the model. A path analysis was conducted in order to define the relationship between the variables. The path coefficient from perceived usefulness to behavioral intention had the strongest regression weight, while from perceived ease of use to attitude toward use had the lowest regression weight. The structural equation model (SEM) indicated that the best model excluded factors, such as attitude toward use, and combined possible action and self-location as one factor. This study only included students as participants. Future studies including instructors could bring a new perspective for using VR in education to learn about climate change. 5 Dedication Vse je to Pot… 6 Acknowledgments On this expedition, I was lucky to have a badass committee (See Appendix E for the meaning of the word). I can say this expedition would not be successful without my advisor, Dr. Greg Kessler, as well as my supervisor, Dr. Gordon Brooks. Dr. Alan Wu showed me how education can be better with the use of new technologies, and Brian Plow taught me how much storytelling plays an important role. Dr. Bob West helped me to put my thoughts on paper. He was with me from the first page to the last, even for this section, too. Let me start from the beginning. When I quit working on my undergraduate studies, Dr. Sretenka Dugalić did not give up on me. She pushed me to finish my undergraduate degree and gave me hope that education is the key. I need to apologize to my family because I stressed them every day, sharing with them my ideas and projects that were difficult to follow. I want to thank my brothers, Goran Kovačević and Boris Toljaga, and their families, for supporting me all these years and taking care of Mira. I wish I could share my degree with my husband, Miha, because he deserves this as much as I do. I hope he will soon have the opportunity to do his own doctoral degree. Two people that have had the biggest influence on me to go farther in academia and in doing what I want to do were Rob Warner (soon to be a doctor) and Dr. Heïdi Sevestre. Guys, when I grow up, I want to be like you two, also badass! Kristin Diki, Elizarni, Andrew Wild and Preeti Patil, we can move the mountain together, and I hope our roads will cross again soon! Life without telenovela is boring! 7 Dr. Jorge Ceballos, thank you for taking us to Nevado Santa Isabel and been a real protector of tropical glaciers. This project would never be done without your expertise and help in Colombia. Thank you to the GRID lab and Terrance Reimer for helping me with all of the equipment that I used on the expedition. Terrance, I can’t thank you enough for all of your help with editing the video. Don, Lisa and Beth, you were the best bosses that a student could have. 8 Table of Contents Page Abstract ...........................................................................................................................3 Dedication .......................................................................................................................5 Acknowledgments ...........................................................................................................6 List of Tables................................................................................................................. 11 List of Figures ............................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 13 Rationale ................................................................................................................. 14 Research Questions .................................................................................................. 23 Significance of Study ............................................................................................... 23 Researcher Assumptions .......................................................................................... 25 Organization of Dissertation .................................................................................... 26 Chapter 2: Literature Review ......................................................................................... 28 VR and Educational Technology .............................................................................. 28 Virtual Reality ................................................................................................... 33 VR and Diversely Abled Populations ................................................................. 37 Storytelling .............................................................................................................. 38 Storytelling as Tool for Advocacy ...................................................................... 41 Digital Storytelling ............................................................................................. 45 VR and Storytelling ........................................................................................... 46 Environmental Interpretation .............................................................................. 47 VR as a Safe Learning Experience ..................................................................... 49 Distance Transformative and Adventure Education ............................................ 52 Climate Change and Education ................................................................................ 53 Tropical Glaciers ................................................................................................ 54 Effects of Climate Change on Tropical Glaciers ................................................. 56 The Role of Education on Climate Change ......................................................... 57 Theoretical Framework