Assessing The Use of Virtual Reality Technology in Teaching Marine Ecological Concepts

Brian Helmuth,Emily Duwan,Francis Choi

doi:10.15695/jstem/v2i1.14

Abstract

Virtual reality environments are becoming increasingly popular as educational tools, but it remains unclear when these environments enhance learning or when they are a distraction from the learning process. We compared two different methods for teaching ecological concepts about the rocky intertidal zone by comparing an experimental (virtual) class with a control (traditional) type of class. We investigated whether cognitive (i.e., knowledge) and affective (i.e., attitudes, perceptions) outcomes are enhanced when students use lesson plans presented in a virtual reality environment compared with lesson plans facilitated via traditional methods. We also assessed the extent to which these attributes are enhanced when students create their own virtual tours as part of a field-based learning experience. The experimental group showed significantly higher maintenance of knowledge gain than the traditional group at the conclusion of the study, but there were no other significant differences among treatment groups. Feedback from teachers reported that students were more engaged, had better recall, and enjoyed the change from the traditional lecture style. Lack of statistically different scores measuring excitement suggests a need for improvement in the design and implementation of these virtual environments to maximize their appeal to students. However, our results suggest that virtual reality technologies provide an innovative alternative to standard lesson plans that can help improve knowledge retention about ecological concepts.

Highlights

Climate change and other stressors impacting the marine environment have made teaching ecological concepts increasingly important (Wrzesien et al, 2010)
This study explored whether the use of virtual reality (VR) to teach rocky intertidal ecology would enhance knowledge gain and retention
This study revealed that current VR technology enhances learning of fundamental intertidal ecology

Summary

Introduction

Climate change and other stressors impacting the marine environment have made teaching ecological concepts increasingly important (Wrzesien et al, 2010). Recent pedagogical and technological advances have enhanced student learning about different aspects of marine ecology but there is still difficulty in motivating students in traditional classroom settings (Wrzesien and Raya, 2010). Educators are taking advantage of appealing aspects of technological solutions to student engagement (Nincarean et al, 2013), and there has been an increased use of computers and mobile platforms such as tablets and smart phones as educational media to stimulate interest and learning both inside and outside of the classroom (Moren-Ger et al, 2008). There is an increasing emphasis on making learning more personalized, and new teaching methods are focused on making the student the center of the learning process (Boada et al, 2015). In order to accomplish these goals, there is a growing use of simulations, including serious games (Guillen-Nieto and Aleson-Carbonell, 2011) and virtual reality (VR) environments (Yahaya, 2006), in both formal and informal educational institutions

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