ORED Small Grant Evaluation of Beginner Sign Language Through Virtual Reality • Pretest-posttest design with ASL 101 students • VR sessions teach ASL fingerspelling in an interactive environment • Zoom sessions with researchers using personalized VR Google Cardboard headsets • Measure ASL knowledge/retention and motivation • Analyze pre-post test differences in the mean scores of study measures • We anticipate VR will provide an improved learning environment for the complex characteristics of ASL as a visuo-spatial language • Motivation for learning will increase due to the novelty of a VR environment and personal use features • Retention of fingerspelling will increase due to increased motivation • VR has 3D signs that textbook modalities compress to 2D PROJECT TIMELINE • IRB approved – March 30, 2021 • Software developed – August 2021 • ASL 101 student sample – Fall 2021 • Complete data collection – Oct 2021 • Analyses – Nov 2021 • Project completion – Dec 31, 2021 • Final Report submitted before March 2022 Darrin Griffin, PI; Sydney Burkhart, MA student, Univ. of Memphis; Fareed Bordbar, Post-doc Researcher; Elizabeth Tagg, MA student Figure 1. Software Logo Figure 2. Google Cardboard Headsets Figure 3. VR Environment Prototype • American Sign Language (ASL) is the 3rd most taken foreign language in US universities – there are few resources for learning ASL and fingerspelling • Meta-analytic research has demonstrated the effectiveness and usefulness of Virtual Reality (VR) for learning achievement, motivation and retention • The ultimate applied goal of this study is to provide students with Dactylo software (Figure 1 & 3) developed by this team that is compatible with Google Cardboard VR (Figure 2) to aid in educational achievement, motivation, and language fluency development for learning ASL PURPOSE & OBJECTIVES RESEARCH DESIGN ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES