Influence of virtual reality on high school students' conceptions of cells
Name
jucs_26_08_0929_0946_thompson.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.25 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
4599f4d2897819f112d7d61f2c160f8e
Author(s)
Thompson, Meredith M
Wang, Annie
Uz Bilgin, Cigdem
Anteneh, Melat
Roy, Daniel
Tan, Philip
Eberhart, Rik
Klopfer, Eric
Date Issued
August 2020
Journal
Journal of Universal Computer Science
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Citation
Thompson, Meredith et al. “Influence of virtual reality on high school students' conceptions of cells.” Journal of Universal Computer Science, 26, 8 (August 2020): 929-946 © 2020 The Author(s)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Cells are central to the study of biology, yet many learners have difficulties understanding the abstract yet fundamental foundation of life. Research suggests that students' conceptions of cells are reinforced by current biology learning materials, which represent cells as two dimensional, highly ordered, and mostly empty. These models also inaccurately represent the number, location, and size of organelles. We examine the effect of an inquiry-based three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) game on high school students' mental models of cells. Students reported that the game was more interactive and engaging than traditional ways of learning about cells and attributed an improved understanding of cells to their game experience. Students' post drawings of cells depicted more types of organelles, increased density of organelles, and additional complexity than their pretest drawings, indicating a movement towards more accurate mental models of cells. However, students' scores did not improve on their factual knowledge about cells between the pretest and the post-game biology assessments. We discuss the implications of incorporating game-based approaches and new technologies such as VR into biology education.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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