Self-directed learning in an appropriately designed environment can help learners retain knowledge tied to experience and motivate them to learn more. For teachers, however, it is difficult to design an environment to give to learners and to give feedback that reflects respect for their independent efforts, while for learners, it is difficult to set learning objectives on their own and to construct knowledge correctly based on their own efforts. In this research, we developed a learning support system that provides a mechanism for constructing an observational learning environment using virtual space and that encourages self-directed knowledge discovery. We confirmed that this system contributes to a learner's structural understanding and its retention and to a greater desire to learn at a level comparable to that of concept map creation, another active learning method.

This paper reports an assessment of the feasibility and the practicality of a creation support system for contemporary dance e-learning. We developed a Body-part Motion Synthesis System (BMSS) that allows users to create choreographies by synthesizing body-part motions to increase the effect of learning contemporary dance choreography. Short created choreographies can be displayed as animation using 3DCG characters. The system targets students who are studying contemporary dance and is designed to promote the discovery learning of contemporary dance. We conducted a series of evaluation experiments for creating contemporary dance choreographies to verify the learning effectiveness of our system as a support system for discovery learning. As a consequence of experiments with 26 students who created contemporary dances, we verified that BMSS is a helpful creation training tool to discover new choreographic methods, new dance movements, and new awareness of their bodies.

The intelligent tutoring system (ITS) enables students to learn knowledge deductively. However, students often become passive, because the ITS takes the initiative in their learning process. Also their knowledge is often superficial, beacause they can not understand different kinds of knowledge due to their limited experience. This paper presents a virtual learning environment (VLE) for discovery learning. The VLE has been built with virtual reality (VR) technology, and supports the student's discovery learning activity and fosters his/her creativity and adaptability based on a broad range of experience by using the functions of VR such as interactivity, direct manipulation interface, walk-through, the function to change view point freely. Also, the VLE connects the explorative training by means of VR with guided education by the ITS. The student model in VLE evaluates the student's level of understanding and adjusts the training accordingly. We have built an operator training system for the training of control activities of electric power plant using the conception of the VLE. The purposes of this system are the following: to aid students to acquire adequate knowledge and skills, and to aid them to gain confidence and experience through their learning activities. The student model evaluates the student's level of understanding for experiential knowledge connected that of skills in VR with that of knowledge in ITS.