Mapping the Evolving Landscape of Child-Computer Interaction Research: Structures and Processes of Knowledge (Re)Production

The intended study seeks to address identified knowledge gaps in current theory and empirical evidence, whilst furthering existing understanding in the burgeoning field of transfer of learning from virtual environments in early childhood. Furthermore, the proposed study would investigate the viability of the construct of motivation of transfer in early childhood education and assess its impact upon transfer of learning from virtual environments. Additionally, the intended study would consider the impact of forms of feedback, which is regarded as an important aspect of a dynamic conception of learning transfer. An analogous structure to that availed of in similar studies reviewed (e.g. Tarasuik, Demaria & Kaufman, 2017) will be employed, whereby initial tasks will be completed in virtual environments, followed by near and far transfer tasks. A control group will exist, which will complete comparable initial learning tasks availing of traditional, non-digital media. Similar to Kirkorian, Choi and Pempek (2016), conditions will also be constructed to reflect varying degrees of contingency or salience, through modification of interactivity involved in tasks (contingent, semi-contingent, noncontingent) as this has been found to exert significant influence upon transfer of learning through moderation of both cognitive load (Choi & Kirkorian, 2016) and dual representation (DeLoache, 2000). However, review of literature and identification of its shortcomings, as well as the specific intentions of the proposed study, necessitate revision and modification of this structure in order to address the hypotheses of the proposed study.
Firstly, delay testing will be adopted, as recommended by previous studies (e.g. Zack & Barr, 2016), which it is believed will more accurately represent learners' transfer. Furthermore, testing will incorporate a "graduated prompting" (Newman et al.,1989) in order to facilitate a conception of transfer as active - a perspective which has ostensibly been neglected in previous studies concerning transfer of learning in early childhood. In this conception of transfer of learning as an active process, transfer is understood as stimulating increased speed in learning in new domains as opposed to enabling spontaneous transfer of appropriate knowledge. "Graduated prompting" (Campione and Brown, 1987; Newman et al.,1989) enables assessment through analysis of the amount of aid required before learners are able to transfer learning. While results of studies reviewed may be construed as resulting from either a cognitive load theoretical or dual representative perspective, with outcomes manifesting similarly and potentially comorbid, it is the intent of the proposed study to, insomuch as it is possible, differentiate between these two perspectives. While it is difficult to definitively mitigate the possibility of either cognitive load or dual representation influencing transfer to some extent in any given task, a possible remedy has been identified which may circumvent this difficulty. A condition may be constructed wherein an adapted version of the "credible shrinking room" experiment (DeLoache, Miller, & Rosengren, 1997) may be employed, whereby it is intimated to learners' that materials used in assessment have a direct physical relation to those involved in the initial learning task, thereby negating the need to dual represent. While this may also reduce the cognitive load on learners, literature has proposed that it is the interactive aspects and superfluous content of virtual learning tasks which result in cognitive overload, and as such this alteration will not substantially preclude cognitive overload. Thus, it will be possible, to a reasonable extent, to identify more accurately the impact on transfer of learning attributable to cognitive load, and subsequently dual representation capacities.