Virtual climate scientist: A VR learning experience about paleoclimatology for underrepresented students

Abstract

ABSTRACT The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have served as a call-to-action to educate and engage global communities on various issues, namely climate change. Despite heightened awareness of climate change, several barriers inhibit underrepresented students’ engagement with the subject matter, namely limited accessibility to (a) hands-on learning experiences, and (b) diverse scientists to identify with. To address these sociopsychological barriers, we developed “Virtual Climate Scientist”, a virtual reality (VR) simulation designed to educate students about paleoclimatology. Students travel to Antarctica and collaborate with diverse virtual scientists to extract/analyse ice cores. A field experiment (N = 99) investigated the effectiveness of the simulation in improving student engagement and views of science. Results demonstrated that the simulation contributed towards positive views of science across gender and racial identity groups, with African American students experiencing a significant increase in how much they viewed themselves as future scientists. These insights extend current work on the efficacy of VR-based STEM education and demonstrate the potential of virtual humans for building interest in science among underrepresented youth. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.