Running head: LEARNING THEORY AND LEARNER ANALYSIS 1

Introduction

My capstone project involves creating a Pedestrian Safety Training Module. The

particular media of choice for this module is a virtual reality (VR) application for smartphone

devices and accessible through a variety of headsets including the low-cost Google Cardboard

design. Learners have access to three different modes of the application. A training portion,

arcade mode, and exam mode. Arcade mode is locked to the user until they complete the

training with 80% accuracy. Exam mode remains unlocked until the user has scored 100% on all

of the tutorial levels.

Tutorial mode offers five different levels, each focusing on a different learning objective.

Learning goals for the module:

identify pedestrian crosswalks.

initiate pedestrian crossing signals when available.

cross when crossing signals indicate it is appropriate.

look left, right, then left again before crossing street.

determine when it is safe to cross when there is no crossing signal.

Before each tutorial level, the learner views a video demonstration stating the importance

of the learning goal, and showing how to successfully complete the objective. The learner is then

given five different virtual reality practice scenarios to complete. The once completed, the

learner's score is shown on the tutorial level selection screen. The learner may retake any of the

tutorials as many times as they would like. The learner must complete the current level with 80%

accuracy before unlocking any subsequent lessons. The learners top score will be shown on the

tutorial level selection screen.

Learner Analysis
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The target learners for this project are children ages six to twelve. Many children within

this age range have not experienced formal pedestrian safety training before. Although not

recommended, children within this age range are likely to start crossing the street by themselves

for the first time. It is important for these children to get an opportunity to learn the concepts and

behaviors associated with crossing the street properly. Children have more frequent access to

their own smartphones, and will continue to gain access as trends suggest. It has been shown that

interactive multimedia learning modules can be effective with children in the area of pedestrian

safety. Virtual reality happens to be one of the most inclusive methods for delivering training.

Research indicates that it is also an effective platform for teaching pedestrian safety to children

with autism (Josman, Ben-Chaim, Friedrich, & Weiss, 2008)One study suggests that knowledge

of pedestrian safety had increased after children participated in WalkSafe, a CD-Rom based

pedestrian safety training (Glang, Noell, Ary, & Swartz, 2005). A downfall of interactive

multimedia trainings is that they lack the ability to simulate complex spatial dynamics that are

involved when actually crossing the street. Thus, a fully immersive VR experience is desired as

the medium. Parents of the target learners can also facilitate the acquisition of the module by

downloading it on their smartphone device, and allowing their child time to use it. Unfortunately,

parents do not often use crossing the street as an opportunity to instruct the child on proper

behaviors, so the application is a place for parent initiated training to start. A study found that

only 6% of parents talk to their children while crossing the street (Zeedyk & Kelly, 2003). This

application will also appeal to young gamers, and explorers of VR. Since VR is a popular

technology among this demographic, it will have motivational appeal over non-VR pedestrian

safety applications, videos, books, or other types of training modules.

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This project will initially target learners who speak English, and who live in a country

where driving is done on the right side of the road. The project can later be expanded to include

speakers of other languages, and those who live in areas where people drive on the left side of

the road.

Learners in this module are presented with a series of practice scenarios that replicate

actual street crossing environments. The basis for learning acquisition in this module is based on

Behaviorism and Skinners operant conditioning theory. Through operant conditioning, an

individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence (Reynolds,

1975). According to this theory, proper street crossing behaviors are a voluntary response (not

reactionary) to produce a consequence of a safe street crossing experience. Many children in my

target learning audience have not learned the proper street crossing behaviors, nor the

consequences involved with using improper street crossing behavior.

The tutorial mode of this module shows a video where learners become aware of the

consequences and rewards associated with each behavior. However, this is not where the

learning takes place. The learner will learn the responses through a series of scenarios in which

their behavior will produce a satisfactory or unsatisfactory response. This instructional method is

based on the law of effect. The law of effect states that responses that produce a satisfying effect

in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that

produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation, resulting in the

learning the set of target behaviors (Grey, 2011, p. 108-109). In this application, the satisfactory

behavior is rewarded by successfully completing the sub level, where a green progress bar will

increase, and obtaining a high percentage score that leads to unlocking other portions of the

application, producing a motivating factor. Unsatisfactory behaviors suffer the consequence of a

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low level score, and a popup stating the behavior wasnt shown and possible real world

consequences (injury via being struck by a vehicle).

This module will focus on positive reinforcement instead of negative reinforcement.

Learning proper pedestrian behaviors involves acquiring new desired behaviors. These new

behaviors replace an absence of behavior. According to DAmato, Melvin, and Marx (1969)

reinforcers serve to increase behaviors whereas punishers serve to decrease behaviors; thus,

positive reinforcers are stimuli that the subject will work to attain, and negative reinforcers are

stimuli that the subject will work to be rid of or to end. Therefore, this module will exclude

negative reinforcers and consistently use positive reinforcers.

This module will also include punishment immediately following a negative behavior.

This punishment will occur in the form of a pop up notification within the scenario, stating that

the learner has put themselves in danger, and did not successfully complete the sub level.

Research shows that punishment results in extinction when it is not applied consistently

(Heffner, 2001). This module will be consistent throughout every sub level in the training mode.

The punishment will remain in this minimal form, and as a positive punishment, throughout the

module. Increasing the severity of a punishment can lead to a hostile attitude from the learner,

and have negative consequences on the acquisition of knowledge. Punishment can also seem

confusing to a pre-adolescent learner. Crone (2014) describes this confusion in the following

statement, Learning from mistakes is more complex than carrying on in the same way as before.

You have to ask yourself what precisely went wrong and how it was possible. Thus,

punishments will be consistent, yet minimal.

A combination of positive reinforcement and punishment will be used to elicit the desired

behaviors from the learners. Ashby & O'Brian (2007) found that a combination of the two work
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best to create desired behaviors. This combination should propel the learner through the

asynchronous learning module, while avoiding a negative attitude towards the training. Since the

training is voluntary, it relies on the learner's interest and buy-in to maintain the learner for a

necessary amount of time. Thorndikes (1971) Law of exercise states that repetition of the

experience increases the chances of a correct response. The module allows for repetition through

various practice scenarios in each of the tutorial levels, and a gamified arcade mode, where

learners attempt to set a high score of consecutive successful attempts of a random scenario.

Since repetition alone does not enhance learning, the satisfactory reinforcers mentioned before

will play a pivotal role in teaching the desired voluntary responses.

Although the design of this module utilizes the necessary components of behaviorism and

operant conditioning to achieve learning, the module will still need careful evaluation to

optimize learning. Observation of learners engaging in the module will prove critical. This will

allow for design improvements in different areas. There may be notable moments where

punishments become overpowering to the learner's experience, prompting him or her to take the

headset off. Since the module may find its way into the hands of a learner who is pre-literate, the

module must also focus on auditory and visual reinforcers and punishments.

References

Ashby FG, O'Brien JB. (2007) The effects of positive versus negative feedback on information-

integration category learning. Percept Psychophys 69(6):865-78

D'Amato, M. R. (1969). Melvin H. Marx, ed. Learning Processes: Instrumental Conditioning.

Toronto: The Macmillan Company.

Gray, P. (2011). Psychology. New York: Worth.

Glang, A., Noell, J., Ary, D., & Swartz, L. (2005, 09). Using Interactive Multimedia to
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Teach Pedestrian Safety: An Exploratory Study. American Journal of Health Behavior,

29(5), 435-442. doi:10.5993/ajhb.29.5.6

Heffner, L (2001). Psychology 101. Retrieved May 10, 2017, from

https://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement/

Josman, N., Ben-Chaim, H. M., Friedrich, S., & Weiss, P. L. (2008, 01). Effectiveness of

virtual reality for teaching street-crossing skills to children and adolescents with autism.

International Journal on Disability and Human Development, 7(1).

doi:10.1515/ijdhd.2008.7.1.49

Peters, S., & Crone, E. A. (2014, 06). Cognitive Flexibility in Childhood and Adolescence. Task

Switching and Cognitive Control, 332-349.

doi:10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199921959.003.0013

Reynolds, G. S. (1976). A primer of operant conditioning. Glenview, Ill. Brighton: Scott,

Foresman.

Thorndike, E. L. (1971). The fundamentals of learning.

Zeedyk, M., & Kelly, L. (2003, 09). Behavioural observations of adultchild pairs at

pedestrian crossings. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 35(5), 771-776. doi:10.1016/s0001-

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