The Level of Interactivity in a Virtual Reality Learning Environment: A Design Key Factor

Resumen

The increasing use of virtual laboratories (VL) based on virtual reality (VR) in the academic field [1] is associated with the need to constantly evaluate and improve the educational effectiveness of these educational tools [2]. Currently, there are different studies that clarify what factors must be considered when teachers design and implement this type of VLs in their classrooms. In this sense, equipping a VL with the appropriate level of interactivity has been revealed as a key factor to ensure that students learn better the concepts that they are studying and, in addition, they are able to retain them in their memory for longer [2]. This article describes and compares two versions of the same non-immersive VR-based VL that simulates a Rockwell hardness test and that were programmed with different levels of interactivity [3,4]. Although both VL versions guide the user through the virtual experiment, the first version offers few possibilities of interaction with the virtual environment, while the second VL requires a greater degree of interaction with the virtual elements to perform the experiment. The analysis carried out through the comparison between both VL versions can serve as a guide for teachers when deciding which level of interactivity is the most appropriate for the VL they are developing.Keywords: virtual reality learning environment, virtual laboratory, materials science and engineering, Rockwell hardness test, interactivity, education.References: [1] Vergara, D; Rubio, M.P.; Lorenzo, M. (2017). On the design of virtual reality learning environments in engineering. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction 1(2), 11. Doi: 10.3390/mti1020011[2] Vergara, D.; Extremera, J.; Rubio, M.P.; Dávila, L.P. (2019). Meaningful learning through virtual reality learning environments: A case study in materials engineering. Applied Sciences, 9(21), 4625. Doi: 10.3390/app9214625[3] Rubio, M.P.; Vergara, D.; Rodríguez, S.; Extremera, J. “Virtual reality learning environments in materials engineering: Rockwell hardness test”, Di Mascio (ed.) Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, Cham, Springer, 2019. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-98872-6_13[4] Extremera, J.; Vergara, D.; Rubio, M.P.; Gómez, A.I. (2019) Design of virtual reality learning environments: Step-by-step guidance. Proceedings of the 12th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Seville, Spain, 11-13 November 2019. pp. 1285-1290. Doi: 10.21125/iceri.2019.0391