Periodo: 2024
URL: Virtual Reality to improve Metacognition in Special Needs Education
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some school-related phenomena, such as dropout rates and the lack of involvement of disadvantaged groups, have consistently increased. Families in socio-cultural disadvantage conditions have faced difficulties in accessing essential services and participating in digital education. On these premises, FOndazione per la RicercasullaMigrazione e IntegrazionedelleTecnologie (FORMIT) developed CLASS, a 12-month project funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, Directorate General for Research, that started on 6 November 2023 with the aim of comparing three different teaching and learning methods, namely: one that focuses on helping students develop their metacognition; one that involves the use of Virtual Reality (VR) to further strengthen this skill; and finally, the traditional method. Key for the project’s success is the collaboration with three state secondary technical and/or professional schools located in the suburbs of Rome, which will participate in the delivery of the teaching and learning activities with a group of students from disadvantaged backgrounds or with cognitive, affective and social needs. The research hypothesis of CLASS is that metacognitive strategies improve the learning process and the engagement of socio-culturally disadvantaged students, and that the use of VR can further enhance the benefits of this type of strategies.