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A Virtual Tour of the Cell: Impact of Virtual Reality on Student Learning and Engagement in the STEM Classroom

    Authors: Jennifer A. Bennett1,*, Colin P. Saunders2
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    Affiliations: 1: Department of Biology and Earth Science, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program, Otterbein University, Westerville, OH 43081; 2: Center for Teaching and Learning, Otterbein University, Westerville, OH 43081
    AUTHOR AND ARTICLE INFORMATION AUTHOR AND ARTICLE INFORMATION
    • Received 18 July 2018 Accepted 28 February 2019 Published 26 July 2019
    • ©2019 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology

    • [open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
    • †Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
    • Corresponding Author. Mailing Address: Department of Biology and Earth Science, Otterbein University, 1 South Grove Street, Westerville, OH 43081. Phone: 614-823-1857. Fax: 614-823-3042. E-mail: [email protected].
    Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. July 2019 vol. 20 no. 2 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v20i2.1658
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    Abstract:

    This study assesses the educational impact of virtual reality (VR) on student learning and engagement in a sophomore-level cell biology course taught at Otterbein University. Using VR, students toured the cell and its environment within the human body. Next, students completed a team challenge where they worked as pairs to match images of cell components taken from the virtual reality application with the appropriate name. Finally, students were given a voluntary survey that presented questions about their perceptions of the VR experience and the associated cell sorting activity. Survey results revealed that a majority of students enjoyed the VR experience and felt that it had a positive impact on their education. These results indicate the potential supportive role that VR may have in a variety of undergraduate courses.

References & Citations

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3. Smith MJ, Smith JD, Fleming MF, Jordan N, Brown CH, Humm L, Olsen D, Bell MD 2017 Mechanism of action for obtaining job offers with virtual reality job interview training Psychiatr Serv 68 747 750 10.1176/appi.ps.201600217 28292223 5495604 http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201600217
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6. Bartlett JD, Lawrence JE, Stewart ME, Nakano N, Khanduja V 2018 Does virtual reality simulation have a role in training trauma and orthopaedic surgeons? Bone Joint J 100-B 559 565 10.1302/0301-620X.100B5.BJJ-2017-1439 29701089 http://dx.doi.org/10.1302/0301-620X.100B5.BJJ-2017-1439
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11. Hardcastle T, Wood A 2018 The utility of virtual reality surgical simulation in the undergraduate otorhinolaryngology curriculum J Laryngol Otol 132 12 1072 1076 10.1017/S0022215118002025 30457086 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022215118002025
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/content/journal/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v20i2.1658
2019-07-26
2019-08-24

Abstract:

This study assesses the educational impact of virtual reality (VR) on student learning and engagement in a sophomore-level cell biology course taught at Otterbein University. Using VR, students toured the cell and its environment within the human body. Next, students completed a team challenge where they worked as pairs to match images of cell components taken from the virtual reality application with the appropriate name. Finally, students were given a voluntary survey that presented questions about their perceptions of the VR experience and the associated cell sorting activity. Survey results revealed that a majority of students enjoyed the VR experience and felt that it had a positive impact on their education. These results indicate the potential supportive role that VR may have in a variety of undergraduate courses.

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Author and Article Information

  • Received 18 July 2018 Accepted 28 February 2019 Published 26 July 2019
  • ©2019 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology

  • [open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
  • †Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
  • Corresponding Author. Mailing Address: Department of Biology and Earth Science, Otterbein University, 1 South Grove Street, Westerville, OH 43081. Phone: 614-823-1857. Fax: 614-823-3042. E-mail: [email protected].

Figures

A Virtual Tour of the Cell: Impact of Virtual Reality on Student Learning and Engagement in the STEM Classroom
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Citation: Bennett J, Saunders C. 2019. A virtual tour of the cell: impact of virtual reality on student learning and engagement in the stem classroom . J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. 20(2): doi:10.1128/jmbe.v20i2.1658
/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v20i2.1658.f1-jmbe-20-37
FIGURE 1
Student answers to “yes/no” virtual reality (VR) survey questions. A) Percentage of students who responded “yes” versus “no” when asked whether VR enhanced their learning experience in the cell biology course. B) Response to survey question asking students whether the combination of VR and a timed cell sorting activity improved their understanding of cellular processes.
jmbe/20/2/jmbe-20-37f1_thmb.gif
jmbe/20/2/jmbe-20-37f1.gif
Image of FIGURE 1

Click to view

FIGURE 1

Student answers to “yes/no” virtual reality (VR) survey questions. A) Percentage of students who responded “yes” versus “no” when asked whether VR enhanced their learning experience in the cell biology course. B) Response to survey question asking students whether the combination of VR and a timed cell sorting activity improved their understanding of cellular processes.

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. July 2019 vol. 20 no. 2 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v20i2.1658
Download as Powerpoint
/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v20i2.1658.f2-jmbe-20-37
FIGURE 2
Likert scale responses to virtual reality (VR) survey questions. A) Answers to whether students would recommend the VR classroom/lab activity to others. B) Likert responses for whether students would recommend innovative learning tools like VR in their other classes.
jmbe/20/2/jmbe-20-37f2_thmb.gif
jmbe/20/2/jmbe-20-37f2.gif
Image of FIGURE 2

Click to view

FIGURE 2

Likert scale responses to virtual reality (VR) survey questions. A) Answers to whether students would recommend the VR classroom/lab activity to others. B) Likert responses for whether students would recommend innovative learning tools like VR in their other classes.

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. July 2019 vol. 20 no. 2 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v20i2.1658
Download as Powerpoint

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