FIRST RESULTS FROM A STUDY ON THE EFFICACY OF USING VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) TO TEACH TRUSS MECHANICS

Abstract

In 2018, the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Engineering established a Virtual Reality Teaching and Cloud-based Learning (or ViRTCL) lab featuring three high-performance HTC Vive Pro VR stations that will be used for day-to-day teaching and for pedagogical research. Also during 2018, we worked with local start-up Sprockety Ventures Inc to develop custom VR software (called TrussVR©) that is designed to help students learn about trusses. In the Fall term of 2018, a pilot study began to evaluate the learning efficacy of TrussVR©. This paper conveys the initial quantitative results of the pilot study.
 For this study, TrussVR© existed as a 3-module lab experience. The first module exposed students to various types of trusses, and allowed students to rapidly test the trusses with applied forces of their choice. The trusses “responded” by showing the qualities of their internal forces including intensities of compression and tension, as well as zero-force members (ZFMs). The second module consisted of two parts. The first showed the distribution of forces in the two-force members (2FMs) of a truss and asked students to apply an external load that would create those internal forces. The second did the reverse i.e. it displayed a truss and an external force and asked students to label the 2FMs with C (compression), T (tension), or Z (ZFM). The third module was a design module where students constructed a bridge truss and tested it.
 In September 2018, students were recruited from the first-year GE 124 Engineering Mechanics I (Statics) class to take part in a pilot study on TrussVR©. Ethics clearance had been granted by the Behavioural REB of the University of Saskatchewan. More than 160 students volunteered. They all completed a “pre-survey” before the lecture content on trusses began. The pre-survey explored issues of knowledge, skills, and attitudes as they pertained to trusses and VR. The study participants were then randomly divided into three groups: no truss lab, conventional truss lab (Pasco© construction set), and TrussVR© lab. During the time of the course when study non-participants completed the Pasco© lab, the study participants completed either no lab, the Pasco© lab, or the TrussVR© lab. After the lab sessions for trusses were completed, all study participants completed a “post-survey” that re-examined knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards trusses. Furthermore, exam marks of the study participants for truss and frame questions were examined for statistically significant differences. Finally, in mid-February, study participants redid the post-survey to examine any differences between conditions in shorter- and longer-term changes in knowledge, skills, and attitudes. 
 Initial results focus on any statistically significant differences between pre, post, and distant-post results on the surveys, as well as on exams, between and within experimental groups. Given how the exams were marked, we were also able to look for patterns and differences in different sections of answers in addition to overall scores. We anticipated that there may be differences in attitudes towards trusses between the three experimental groups (no lab, Pasco© lab, TrussVR© lab). There may also be differences in skills and knowledge.