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Using a theoretical model to understand how virtual reality influences engineering student’s learning processes – A work in progress

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Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

Computers in Education 5 - Modulus 4

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41271

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/41271

Download Count

309

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Paper Authors

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Adurangba Oje University of Georgia

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Victor Oje is a PhD Candidate in the College of Engineering. He is affiliated with the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. His research interest focuses on the pedagogical design of Virtual Reality (VR) environments and the use of learning principles to foster learning and engagement in VR environments. He is also interested in systematic review and meta-analysis research methodology. His research has implications on how instructional designers and instructors effectively use VR to enrich the learning experience within an engineering learning context.

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Oluwafemi Sunday

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Nathaniel Hunsu University of Georgia

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Nathaniel Hunsu is currently an assistant professor of Engineering Education at the University of Georgia. He is affiliated with the Engineering Education Transformational Institute and the school of electrical and computer engineering at the university. He holds a PhD in Educational Psychology from Washington State University. His research interests are in learning and cognition, students’ engagement in their learning contexts, and the assessment of learning and engagement in engineering classrooms. He conducts studies that examine student engagement and academic resilience in engineering education. He is currently the principal investigator on two NSF-funded projects. The first project examines factors that influence academic resilience among engineering students, while the other involves the development of a diagnostic tool to identify students’ misconceptions in electrical engineering.

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Dominik May

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Dr. May is an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. He researches online and intercultural engineering education. His primary research focus lies on the development, introduction, practical use, and educational value of online laboratories (remote, virtual, and cross-reality) and online experimentation in engineering instruction. In his work, he focuses on developing broader educational strategies for the design and use of online engineering equipment, putting these into practice and provide the evidence base for further development efforts. Moreover, Dr. May is developing instructional concepts to bring students into international study contexts so that they can experience intercultural collaboration and develop respective competences. Dr. May is President of the International Association of Online Engineering (IAOE), which is an international non-profit organization to encourage the wider development, distribution, and application of Online Engineering (OE) technologies and its influence on society. Furthermore, he serves as Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET) intending to promote the interdisciplinary discussion of engineers, educators, and engineering education researchers around technology, instruction, and research. Dr. May has organized several international conferences in the Engineering Education Research field. He is currently program co-chair and international program committee member for the annual International Conference on Remote Engineering and Virtual Instrumentation (REV) and served as a special session committee member for the Experiment@ International Conference Series (exp.at).

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Robert Baffour University of Georgia

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Abstract

In this work-in-progress, we conducted a study to test the validity of a previously proposed framework on the relationship between some salient Virtual Reality (VR) variables, students’ psychological presence and learning experiences in a desktop VR-based learning activity for civil engineering students. Participants were 63 undergraduate students enrolled in an engineering class who interacted with a desktop VR application for a land-surveying activity. Reliability analysis showed that the internal consistency reliability for the constructs were high. Additionally, we observed positive and significant correlations between VR attributes, presence, and active learning. Furthermore, we found that some VR attributes significantly predicted active learning. We hope that the findings of the study contribute to the research evidence on aspects of VR that are most salient in fostering highly engaging learning experiences and beneficial learning outcomes for engineering students. Additionally, we seek to advance theory-driven VR research in the design and development of VR applications for engineering education.

Oje, A., & Sunday, O., & Hunsu, N., & May, D., & Baffour, R. (2022, August), Using a theoretical model to understand how virtual reality influences engineering student’s learning processes – A work in progress Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41271

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