Adapting Noticing Framework to Analyze Learner's Reasoning in VR-simulated complex scenarios

Abstract

Car drivers learning to make decisions in Indian on-road scenarios is challenging. We designed and simulated a complex on-road scenario using virtual reality technology to help learners experience alternate perspectives of their driving actions. Our research focused on the cognitive influences on decision-making and adapted the noticing framework as the analytical lens. Four participants drove a car on virtual Indian city roads accompanied by a virtual conversational agent to elicit their reasoning while making decisions, followed by a stimulated recall protocol. We recorded each participant's actions and timestamped conversations with the agent and researcher. We inductively coded the noticing episodes and interpreted six types of conceptual relationships between the designed elements in the VR scenario. These interpreted codes could help us analyze the changes in a learner’s noticing patterns after taking alternate perspectives. This paper highlights the usefulness of the adapted noticing framework for future studies with multiple complex VR scenarios.