A Study of Student Active Learning in a Virtual Learning Environment Based on Generated Questions

This study investigated students' active learning processes at three points in time (before, during, and after the experiment) while using a virtual learning environment (VLE). Because the VLE is not only immersive but also interactive, it makes sense to engage students in an active (rather than passive) educational experience, so it becomes critical to study their active learning in a virtual environment within a college student population. Through open-ended questioning and Chi's (2009) active learning framework, this study collected students' questions about photography and videography and then categorized them inductively and deductively into active processes (activating a priori knowledge), constructive processes (acquiring new knowledge), and interactive processes (creating new understandings beyond what has been learned). Analysis of coding problems of 65 university students (25 males and 40 females) showed that both males and females showed a significant progressive change from active to constructive and from constructive to interactive learning processes. The presence of interactive learning processes suggests that the VLE can greatly facilitate learning.