아동기 공간지능발달을 위한 자연 환경 VR 체험에 관한 연구

Abstract

(Background and Purpose) In modern society, small private educational spaces for children are artificially composed, and the development of space intelligence among children is limited in such spaces. In urban environments, nature has disappeared, and children are educated with the limited exposure to the elements of natural shapes. Such non-natural spaces are not suitable for children. To substitute for the absence of natural shapes in educational spaces for children in modern society with limitations of time, space, and distance, children were exposed to VR images containing elements of natural shapes. Thus, this study aims to suggest a theoretical background regarding an environment where the development of space intelligence among children is formed by researching the effects of experience with a VR visual environment on the development of space intelligence during a specific period of childhood. It also aimed to facilitate to the development of space intelligence with the use of VR experiences among children in modern society who are less exposed to elements of natural shapes. (Methods) This study examined whether the space intelligence of children during a specific period of childhood is developed through exposure to elements of natural shapes in VR. According to Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, children's intelligence includes intelligence regarding space and the natural environment. According to Montessori and Piaget, there is a time when the development of space intelligence for children is maximized. Understanding the system and structure of nature in accordance with structure as an element of natural shapes, it was supposed that the space perceptual ability of children in a specific developmental period would be developed through observation of the structure and laws of natural shapes. The development of space intelligence among children is facilitated by realizing images with elements of natural shapes in VR. As current VR technology cannot accord with humans' somesthetic sensibility, among humans' senses, the visual experience was focused on. (Results) Regarding the period in which the development of space intelligence is activated, Piaget considered it to occur at 7-11 years old during the concrete operational stage, and Montessori considered it to occur at 8-12 years old during stage 2. Based on this, subjects of 6-12 years old were used. To measure space development ability, the projective space concept was differentiated from the topological space concept. Referring to previous studies, drawing figures were used to measure the projective space, and to measure the topological space, the 3-dimensional image experiment that Piaget used to measure space development was employed. The spatial development between children who viewed the VR images containing elements of natural shapes and children who did not view them was compared. Among 80 children of 8-12 years old from a small-sized private institute, 40 were assigned to a group that viewed the VR images containing elements of natural shapes, and 40 were assigned to a group that did not view them. They were then asked to solve questions for evaluating space intelligence in a questionnaire. (Conclusions) According to the results of the experiment, the children who viewed the VR images containing elements of natural shapes had higher space perceptual ability than the children who did not. The space intelligence of children in a specific period was developed through exposure to VR images containing elements of natural shapes. Thus, children residing in cities of modern society with limited development of their space intelligence owing to the absence of nature could improve their space intelligence by experiencing VR images containing elements of natural shapes.