Using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: The impact of training
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in using virtual reality (VR) technology to benefit instruction, especially in physics and related subjects. As VR devices improve and become more widely available, there remains a number of unanswered questions regarding the impact of VR on student le...
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2020-09-01
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Series: | Physical Review Physics Education Research |
Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020119 |
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doaj-d7b9eb8687bc4c7a9feae66e026572a62020-11-25T03:18:14ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Physics Education Research2469-98962020-09-0116202011910.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020119Using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: The impact of trainingC. D. PorterJ. R. H. SmithE. M. StagarA. SimmonsM. NieberdingC. M. OrbanJ. BrownA. AyersRecent years have seen a resurgence of interest in using virtual reality (VR) technology to benefit instruction, especially in physics and related subjects. As VR devices improve and become more widely available, there remains a number of unanswered questions regarding the impact of VR on student learning and how best to use this technology in the classroom. On the topic of electrostatics, for example, a large, controlled, randomized study performed by Smith et al. [A controlled study of stereoscopic virtual reality in freshman electrostatics, Proceedings of the 2017 Physics Education Research Conference, Cincinnati, OH, PER Conference series (2017), pp. 376–37910.1119/perc.2017.pr.089], found that VR-based instruction had an overall negligible impact on student learning compared to videos or images. However, they did find a strong trend for students who reported frequent video game play to learn better from VR than other media. One possible interpretation of this result is that extended videogame play provides a kind of “training” that enables a student to learn more comfortably in the virtual environment. In the present work we consider if a VR training activity that is unrelated to electrostatics can help prepare students to learn electrostatics from subsequent VR instruction. We find that preliminary VR training leads to a small but statistically significant improvement in student performance on our electrostatics assessment. We also find that student reported game play is still correlated with higher scores on this metric.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020119 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
C. D. Porter J. R. H. Smith E. M. Stagar A. Simmons M. Nieberding C. M. Orban J. Brown A. Ayers |
spellingShingle |
C. D. Porter J. R. H. Smith E. M. Stagar A. Simmons M. Nieberding C. M. Orban J. Brown A. Ayers Using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: The impact of training Physical Review Physics Education Research |
author_facet |
C. D. Porter J. R. H. Smith E. M. Stagar A. Simmons M. Nieberding C. M. Orban J. Brown A. Ayers |
author_sort |
C. D. Porter |
title |
Using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: The impact of training |
title_short |
Using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: The impact of training |
title_full |
Using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: The impact of training |
title_fullStr |
Using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: The impact of training |
title_full_unstemmed |
Using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: The impact of training |
title_sort |
using virtual reality in electrostatics instruction: the impact of training |
publisher |
American Physical Society |
series |
Physical Review Physics Education Research |
issn |
2469-9896 |
publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
description |
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in using virtual reality (VR) technology to benefit instruction, especially in physics and related subjects. As VR devices improve and become more widely available, there remains a number of unanswered questions regarding the impact of VR on student learning and how best to use this technology in the classroom. On the topic of electrostatics, for example, a large, controlled, randomized study performed by Smith et al. [A controlled study of stereoscopic virtual reality in freshman electrostatics, Proceedings of the 2017 Physics Education Research Conference, Cincinnati, OH, PER Conference series (2017), pp. 376–37910.1119/perc.2017.pr.089], found that VR-based instruction had an overall negligible impact on student learning compared to videos or images. However, they did find a strong trend for students who reported frequent video game play to learn better from VR than other media. One possible interpretation of this result is that extended videogame play provides a kind of “training” that enables a student to learn more comfortably in the virtual environment. In the present work we consider if a VR training activity that is unrelated to electrostatics can help prepare students to learn electrostatics from subsequent VR instruction. We find that preliminary VR training leads to a small but statistically significant improvement in student performance on our electrostatics assessment. We also find that student reported game play is still correlated with higher scores on this metric. |
url |
http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020119 |
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