IST Web-based Virtual Expeditions: Enhancing Open-Mindedness among Students Miri Barak, Orit Herscovitz, Sergey Kozyrev & Yehudit Dori Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

2 This study was carried out as part of the MOSAICA project, an IST project funded by the EC 6 th FP. MOSAICA project ( set forth the vision of promoting open-mindedness and pluralistic views by presenting unique learning experiences. Virtual Expeditions MOSAICA project

3 Virtual Expeditions (VEs) A thematically-organized succession of virtual heritage items in the form of web-based resources bound together via story-telling templates. Allow users not only to explore stories of others, but also to create their one narrative.

4 Storytelling and Open-mindedness Modern societies expect people to make rational decisions based-on evaluative and critical thinking rather than on authority acceptance (Barak, Ben-Chaim & Zoller, 2007; Ten Dam, & Volman, 2004). One aspect of critical thinking is open-mindedness. A person who wishes to think critically about something like politics or religion should be open-minded to different views and cultures (Facione, Facione & Giancarlo, 1996). Open-mindedness requires that the individual would be prepared to admit that he might be wrong, and must be willing to revise his ideas in light of new information (Hare, 1979; Facione, Facione & Giancarlo, 1996).

5 Evaluation Research Settings Based on the VE methodology, two VE mockups on Jewish women heritage were developed and tested among university students. Research methodology: based on the mixed methods research model, which incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in the analysis and interpretation of data. Research question: Whether and to what extent can the exploration of Virtual Expeditions/MOSAICA enhance users' disposition towards open-mindedness?

6 Research population: 15 (pre-pilot) (pilot) undergraduate students from three higher education institutions in Israel. Religion: Jewish (N=69), Muslim (N=36) and Christian (N=2). Age range: from 18 to 25. Gender: 54% were female students. Comparison groups: Jewish male students (N=49), Jewish female students (N=20), non Jewish female students (N=37), non Jewish male students (N=1) Evaluation User Groups

7 Willingness to adopt different opinions Non-prejudice views Inspired by CCTDI - California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (Facione & Facione, 1992) Acceptance of others Gender equity Non-judgmental views

8 Semi ‑ Structured Interview Questions I. Usage characteristics of MOSAICA 1. Please describe the way you chose to explore MOSAICA system: Where did you start from and how did you carryon? 2. What are the best aspects of the system for the user? II. Content comprehension and understanding 1. How clear, coherent, interesting was the information presented in the applications? Please provide a detailed answer for each application you chose. 2. Are there any parts of the system which you found confusing or difficult to fully understand? IIII. Social impact and/or multi cultural evaluation 1. In your opinion, can MOSAICA promote open mindedness and tolerance toward the Jewish culture? If so how? 2. How would you evaluate the cultural heritage ontology from multi-cultural perspective?

9 Paired t-test Comparison of Pre-Post Questionnaires NMeanSDtp< Pre- Questionnaire Post- Questionnaire There is a statistically significant enhancement of users' disposition towards open-mindedness before and after the Virtual Expeditions exploration.

10 p<Beta Explanation % Variable Pre questionnaire open- mindedness mean Students' Gender NS-- Students' religion Students' pre-questionnaire results explain almost 40% of their post- questionnaire results. Students' gender explains only 4% of the post-questionnaire results. Students' religion does not influence the post-questionnaire results. Stepwise multiple regression

11 Semi-Structured Interviews results 1. The students seemed to be highly interested in the content presented in the VEs. I liked the way VEs present new material; I was encouraged to explore the VE screens, trying not to miss any active button. 2. VE exploration encourages discussions among students about cultural heritage preservation. VE exploration caused me to think about the reasons for presenting our culture and history. It is especially important nowadays, when some people are trying to distort parts of our history. ST1 Well… I'm rather confused by the fact that VE allows each user to add contributions. It will make it possible to give wrong interpretation to historical events. ST2 I'm not sure. As for me, it's more important just to start talking about these events in order not to forget them. Each person has a right to express his own opinion. ST1

12 Pilot Study Summary 1.Users with initial high open-minded views, assert higher pluralistic views after the VE exploration, compared to their peers. 2.VE exploration has a potential to reduce differences in disposition towards open-mindedness between users from different gender and religion groups. 3.The topic of the VE plays an important role in its influence on users' disposition towards open-mindedness. Both VEs focused on the life stories of two Jewish women scientists. Consequently, the highest difference between pre and post results was observed for items related to gender equity and willingness to adopt different opinions.

13 Storytelling can affect listener both emotionally and intellectually at the same time. “Good stories raise questions and get people thinking" (Begiebing et al., 2004).