5. Let learners act
Decide: in each step, what does the learner do?
Learners who act learn more than learners who watch, and learners who watch learn more than learners who only read. An XR lesson where learners only press Next is a slideshow with a headset.
5.1 Finish steps with an action, not with Next
Do
- When a step asks for an action, let the step finish when the learner does it: pressing the right button, walking to the right place.
- Keep Next for steps where learners only read or watch.
In ALF
| The step should finish when the learner… | Trigger Method |
|---|---|
| presses a button you placed | Press a flat button or Press a hand-pressable button: Use a button to advance a step |
| presses a part of the machine itself, such as a switch or a lid | Press a hand-pressable button, with a clickable part |
| walks to a place | Reach a place in the room |
| has read the panel | Press Next on the guidance canvas |
All are in Choose how a step finishes. Steps that finish on an action need Scenario Setup, not Guidance Setup.
The learner experiences: the lesson moves on because they did something, not because they clicked.
Avoid: a whole lesson of panels and Next.
Why: engagement modes rank from passive (watching) to active (doing) to constructive (explaining, predicting) to interactive (discussing). Each level up learns more. ICAP (Chi & Wylie).
5.2 Make the movement match the real one
Do
- If the real task is done by hand, use hand tracking: grabbing should mean grabbing, pressing should mean pressing with a finger.
- Controllers are fine when the movement itself isn't what learners need to learn.
In ALF
- Choose hands or controllers per scene: Scene Generation: The five player setups.
- Push button models can be pressed with a finger; flat buttons need Also react to being touched.
- Clickable parts are pressed with a pinch, not a fingertip: How learners press it. Use them where reaching for and selecting a part is the action.
- Objects learners can pick up: Choose what learners can do with an object.
Avoid: pointing a controller ray at a part when the real task is to grip it.
Why: the body learns along when the gesture matches the real action. Embodied cognition (Johnson-Glenberg).
5.3 Let actions have visible consequences
Do
- Make the system react to the learner like the real one: a cover opens, a part moves, a light comes on, a sound plays.
- Let learners operate the controls themselves.
In ALF
- Moving parts: Kinematic Editor Tool.
- Buttons that move them: Add buttons that move the parts.
- A sound or light when a part starts, stops or reaches its end: Play a sound or effect when a part moves.
The learner experiences: "I did that." The system responds believably.
Avoid: parts that only move in an animation the learner watches.
Why: a believable reaction to the learner's action matters more for learning than realistic graphics. Plausibility (Slater), CAMIL: agency (Makransky & Petersen).
5.4 Match the activity to the kind of goal
| Your goal is to… | Let learners | In ALF |
|---|---|---|
| Carry out a fixed procedure | Do every step themselves, in the real order, with less help each run. | Steps that finish on actions; buttons; moving parts |
| Solve a task with decisions | Choose what to do next. Offer several options, only one of them right. | A button or clickable part per option, with the step finishing on the right one; Part Palette to choose the right part |
| Understand how something works | Predict, try, observe, explain (see 5.5). Connect what they see to a graph (see 5.8). | Moving parts with controls; exploded view; Graphs |
| Recognise and tell apart | Find and press the right part on the machine; pick the right one from similar-looking options; compare side by side. | Clickable parts, the step finishing on the right one; Part Palette; image panels |
| Follow rules and act safely | Decide in a situation, and see what happens if the rule is broken, safely. | Show or hide objects to show the consequence; buttons for the decision |
5.5 Ask for a prediction before you show
Do: use three steps.
- Predict: the panel asks "What will happen when…?" Learners say their answer aloud, to a partner or on paper.
- Observe: learners make it happen themselves.
- Explain: the next panel shows why, and asks learners to compare with their prediction.
In ALF: three steps in Scenario Setup; the observation with buttons that move the parts, the step finishing on that button.
Avoid: showing the result first and explaining afterwards. Learners then nod along, and their misconceptions stay.
Why: committing to a prediction brings misconceptions to the surface, so the observation can correct them. Predict–Observe–Explain (White & Gunstone).
ALF can't record which answer a learner chose. Ask for the prediction aloud or on paper, and pick it up in the debrief.
5.6 Explore with a goal, not freely
Do
- Give exploration a clear question, a limited set of controls, and an answer at the end.
- Let learners explore freely only after they know the basics.
In ALF: a control panel with only the controls the question needs: Add buttons that move the parts.
Avoid: "Have a look around" as a task for beginners.
Why: unguided discovery fails for beginners. Guided inquiry, with a question, structure and feedback, works better than both pure discovery and pure instruction. Guided inquiry (de Jong), Kirschner, Sweller & Clark (2006).
5.7 Let learners handle the parts
Do: let learners pick up pieces, turn them, look at them from all sides, and see how they fit together.
In ALF
- Pieces of an opened machine: Let learners pick up the pieces.
- Single parts: Choose what learners can do with an object, with Pick it up and carry it and Resize it with both hands.
Why: learners who find it harder to imagine objects in 3D gain the most from handling 3D models. Spatial ability research (Hegarty; Uttal et al.).
5.8 Connect the scene to a graph
Do
- When learners should understand how quantities relate, show the measured values as a graph next to what happens in the scene.
- Point out explicitly what in the scene matches what in the graph, for example: "This point is the moment the part stops."
- Ask learners to read a value off the graph, or to predict how the curve will change.
In ALF
- A chart from a CSV file or formulas, standing in the room: Graphs, Place the graph and choose what learners can do.
- A ready-made experiment with controls, live graphs and force arrows: Planetary Lab.
Avoid: a graph that stands in the room without anyone explaining how it relates to the scene.
Why: several representations help only when learners are supported in translating between them. Multiple external representations (Ainsworth).