Virtual Reality in STEM Education During COVID-19
Chadia Affane Aji, M. Javed Khan · 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings · 2024
Abstract The availability of virtual reality (VR) technology has opened up an avenue to bring three dimensional real-world experiences to students which may otherwise be inaccessible to them. The VR-based lessons provide opportunities for students to be engaged with complex concepts that can be visualized in three-dimensions (3D) helping them improve their understanding. A team of faculty at an HBCU has developed VR lessons in introductory Math, Biology, Physics, Aerospace Engineering and Electrical Engineering courses. However, the COVID-19 protocols impacted the implementation of these lessons in a VR environment. The lessons were therefore implemented such that students could experience them on their computer screens at any time and from anywhere. The software platform allowed interaction with the 3D environment using mouse/cursor controls. The methodology of the development of a VR lesson and links to the VR lessons are included in the paper. Attitude surveys were administered to students before and after the implementation of these interactive lessons. Results from these surveys are shared. This paper is based on an exploratory project funded by the NSF HBCU Target Infusion Projects program.