MultiSense: Multisensory Learning Support for Students with Attention Difficulties

The aim of the research project is to explore and investigate the effects of 3D virtual multisensory learning interfaces in both individual learning and group work for students with concentration difficulties.

The interfaces included in the project support vision, hearing, and the sense of touch, making it possible to manipulate graphical objects as if they were physical objects with form, weight, material properties, textures, magnetism, and similar characteristics. Previous research indicates that this can increase the sense of presence, which in turn may enhance students’ ability to concentrate.

The project primarily targets students aged 15–18 with diagnosed ADHD who follow the Swedish national curriculum. The focus is on the subject of mathematics, which is often particularly challenging for students with concentration difficulties.

Interviews with teachers and students, as well as observations in schools, will be conducted, focusing on how individual work and group work are currently experienced in relation to students’ ability to achieve knowledge and learning goals and how concentration difficulties manifest in these contexts.

In subsequent experimental studies, students’ ability to concentrate—measured through head movement and eye-tracking—as well as their ability to achieve the learning goals according to Lgr22 and Gy11, will be examined in relation to the use of 3D virtual multisensory learning interfaces.