Does Touching Real Objects Affect Learning?

Abstract

Based on theories of multimedia learning, the present study investigated whether the haptic sense serves as an additional channel to enhance the learning experience and learning outcomes. We therefore set up an experimental exhibition with two showrooms. In the first showroom, the sensory access of the participants to the exhibition objects was systematically varied in a 2 × 2 design with the between-subjects factors vision and haptics. While one group of participants could touch and see the objects, others could either only see or only touch them. The fourth group of participants found a showroom without objects. To address the auditory access, all participants were provided with information about each object via an audio guide. In the second showroom, further information was presented using posters. This showroom was the same for every participant. We aimed to investigate whether the haptic experience in the first showroom served as a motivator to engage further with the topic. The participants filled out questionnaires before visiting the first showroom, after visiting the first showroom, and after visiting the second showroom. To investigate the differences between the experimental groups on different outcomes, a memory test, a knowledge test, and various motivational-affective scales were used. The long-term effects of the information presentation were measured after 3 weeks. We found an advantage for recalling the objects and a heightened negative affect due to the haptic experience. Implications and further directions for this research will be discussed.

3D printing lifts the lid on black box instruments

“…Of the 8 studies that surveyed student satisfaction, all reported positive student perceptions. These gains are consistent with objectbased learning (OBL) which hypothesizes that tactile interaction with objects facilitates student learningallowing them to develop their understanding and better visualization concepts [25,26].…”

Haptic-enabled collaborative learning in virtual reality for schools

“…As mentioned earlier, the importance of haptic experiences and haptic feedback for learning has been under-researched compared with visual and auditory, but a recent study (Novak & Schwan, 2021) provided some support for the possibility that haptic feedback might improve memory retention. Novak and Schwan's study, in the context of exhibitions of animal husbandry, indicated that the participants who had a haptic experience by touching real objects were able to build a stronger mental representation of the exhibited tools.…”

Touching Art -- A Method for Visualizing Tactile Experience

“…An additional motivation for this study is to break ground in a largely unexplored area of visualization and physicalization research: the role of touch for making sense of data representations. Research in psychology offers many starting points: people learn to interpret charts by tracing them with their fingers even if they don't offer tactile features [1], touching objects often supports learning and memorizing their features better than just observing them [10,14]. Tactile stimulation is used extensively in the Montessori pedagogy; letters cut from sandpaper help children to learn the alphabet with multiple sensory modalities [14].…”

“…Research in psychology offers many starting points: people learn to interpret charts by tracing them with their fingers even if they don't offer tactile features [1], touching objects often supports learning and memorizing their features better than just observing them [10,14]. Tactile stimulation is used extensively in the Montessori pedagogy; letters cut from sandpaper help children to learn the alphabet with multiple sensory modalities [14]. Also data physicalization research has shown that the ability to touch a tangible data object improves its understanding [11].…”