This document summarizes the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies in higher education classrooms and activities at Swansea University's College of Engineering. It describes several VR projects created by faculty to enhance learning, including virtual field tours of ecosystems created by Dr. Wendy Harris and Marc Holmes, and a VR application on capital allowances created by Dr. Terry Filer. Student feedback indicated that VR helped learning and understanding, was engaging and fun to use, and would be useful for other modules. The document discusses adapting VR projects based on student feedback to include video, audio, pair work, and improved image quality. It outlines plans for a new VR anatomy application being created by Drs. Laura Mason and Marc Holmes.
8. What are we doing? The
project
• Creating a more inclusive field work environment
through development of virtual field courses using
virtual reality technology
• Students free to navigate and explore in own time
and space, for unlimited visits
• Currently based on actual field sites provided by
Bioscience – a post tour
• Working to create virtual habitats which will be
embedded with practical guides to key sampling
methods and associated species information
10. Why are we doing it? Current
pressures faced
• Field work under threat from variey of compounding factors (SMITH
2004; DAVENPORT 1998)
• May promote a model of privilege and exclusion, in particular for
students from ethnic minorities or those unable to access the
environment (EASTON & GILBURN 2012; HALL ET AL. 2002; NAIRN 1999;
KOBAYASHI 1994)
• Virtual unlimited access would allow opportunity familiarisation with
habitat, development of taxonomic and practical skills and
exploration of new ecosystems
11. Why are we doing it?
The evidence
• Technology supports open access (DANIEL 1997), leads to
improvements in teaching and learning process and
changes students’ role from passive to active learners
(ALLEY 1996; REPP 1996; ROBLYER ET AL. 1997)
• Like practical work, virtual reality allows for experiential
learning and enhances motivation and engagement
(JARMON ET AL. 2009; KALYUGA 2007; KOLB ET AL 2002)
• Games and virtual worlds are suitable for knowledge
attribution or skill-based learning outcomes; retention is
beyond short-term learning (MERCHANT ET AL. 2014)
12. the virtual field
course Creation
Preliminary Ecological Appraisal
Used to identify biodiversity of area prior to
development
Assessment
outline
Oxwich National Nature Reserve
Special Area of Conservation
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Multiple high value habitats, including saltmarsh,
ancient woodland, lakes, sand dune
Study site
5 months between site visit and
report submission
Challenges
13. The virtual field course creation
• 360 photos of site recorded using
Samsung 360 gear camera
• Locations of photos recorded (GPS
tagging unreliable)
• Two pictures taken to remove
photographer (no behind camera with
a 360 camera)
• Earlier testing showed users reacted to
constant presence of photographer
rather than focusing on learning
objective
14. the virtual field course Creation
• Unity used to build 360 google cardboard
tour
• Swansea University created open source
framework for developing tours
• Information on using the tool and the entire
process can be found here:
https://github.com/SwanseaIMO/Tour360
• Site-specific information embedded into
spheres
• App for Android built into third-party
sharable APK
• Test flight app for iPhone submitted to app
store
76%
15%
9%
iphone
Android
Unsuitable
Ratio of phones, From previous testing
for 200 Swansea student users
15. the virtual field course
Creation
• Staff and students invited to trial during development to
allow opportunities for creative engagement
• Final class arranged for completed app use
• Aim for Bring Your Own Device deployment for phones
with 10% Corporate-owned Personally Enabled (COPE)
• Google Cardboard provided in class and available to
borrow from library
• Feedback collected using structures questionnaire
17. The Questionnaire
1. The app was easy to use
2. It was easy to navigate around the virtual site
3. The coloured spheres helped me to navigate
4. The compass and arrows helped me to navigate
5. The directions and shortcuts helped me to
navigate
6. Using the app made me feel dizzy/ill
7. The app is fun to use
8. I will use the app several times to help me
remember key features of the site
9. The information provided in the app was
sufficient to help me remember the site
10.The information provided allowed me to link the
location with my own notes
11.The information provided in the app was easy to
find
12.It would be useful to flag up where the
information is in each sphere to help navigate
towards it
13.It would be useful to include more detailed
information within the spheres
14.The app will help me to successfully complete
the assessment
15.This technology would be relevant for other
modules
23. • Setting the scene
• UG, year 3 taxation module
• Cohort of 200 students
• VR in seminar sessions
• Supplement/compare with
Project Based Learning
• Capital allowances exercise
VR – An experiential approach
28. Recreation and adaptation
• Students preferred to work in pairs - perform better than individually and
remember more factual material (WOOD ET AL. 1995; JOHNSON ET AL. 1979)
• Games shown to be more effective at promoting higher learning, but experience
with games helped students navigate (MERCHANT ET AL. 2014; MONAHAN ET AL. 2008)
• Allow access prior to field trip to develop familiarity with landscape and key
biodiversity features (BURDEN ET AL., 2017)
• VR considered most effective when combined with other technologies such as
videos, podcasts, blogs – include videos, task-specific features (MINOCHA, 2017)
29. • Keep coloured spheres – track progress and help
navigation
• Keep writing to minimum – explore presentation –
size/ fonts/colours
• Include video and audio options – feedback
suggested both options
• Expand to selected modules? Overseas field
courses?
• Affordable but quality limitations?
• What next!
Recreation and adaptation
34. SteamVR - HTC Vive
• A room scale VR Kit
• Head Mounted Display HMD with
Translation and Rotation.
• 2 Motion Controller
• Works with a Windows (Linux and
Mac in development)
• Need a powerful graphics we chose
Nvidia 1070 and the ATI 480 RX as
our based devices.
• Other headset can be used: Oculus
Rift, Nolo VR, Mix Reality.
35. Unity3D
+ SteamVR Plugin
+ VRTK
• GUI with scripts
• Easily created a 3D environment
• Online Developer Course for Unity
• Unity3D
https://unity3d.com/
• SteamVR Unity Plugin
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com
/en/#!/content/32647
• VRTK (Virtual Reality Tool Kit)
https://github.com/thestonefox/VRTK
41. Methods
• Module SR113 – N=43
• N=9 volunteered to take part
• Crossover repeated measures
design.
• MCQ pre-mid-post (quantitative)
• Survey (qualitative)
• Module exam performance
(skeletal system and as a whole)
43. Longer-term data testers
• Significantly higher exam performance in
those who took part in the VR project
(P≤0.020)
• Results – Long-term. Those who took
part in the VR project achieved 15%
higher marks on the end of module
exam (54% versus 69%) than those who
did not. As is consistent with previous
years students who did not take part in
the VR score ~5% lower on this module
than the average of their other TB1
exams whereas those who took part
maintained the same average mark as
their other modules suggesting that VR
gave a measurable improvement in
learning rather than it just being the
‘better’ or more engaged students who
took part.
53. Content in development by lecturers for
2017-2018 trails Phase 2
Dr Laura Mason – Anatomy Application - Complete
Dr Richard Johnson – Inside Material microstructure - Complete
Dr Peter Dorrington & Dr William Harrison – CAD VR automotive design - InProgress
Dr Enrico Andreoli – Renewable energy production -
Dr Terry Filer – Capital Allowances – Complete
Dr Wendy Harris – Virtual Field Tours - Complete
Dr Clare Wood / Ping Yin – Building Information Systems with VR integration
Dr Patricia Xavier – Phase of construction – InProgress
Dr Joanne Hudson – Empathy in VR – InProgress
Dr Kirill – Phase Diagrams – Complete
Dr Zoran Jelic – Aerospace Design Choices explained in VR
Dr Chenfeng Li – Fluid simulations
Dr Andrew Tappenden – AR/VR simulating beams during bending.
63. Why are we doing it? Pedagogic evidence
• Accessibility of VR using low cost devices via Bring Your Own Device
(BYOD) and Google Cardboard demonstrated (RODRIGUEZ, 2016)
• Google Expeditions provide access to a range of VR experiences
• Shown to be effective at:
• engaging students for higher level learning and promote active
learning
• addressing equity of access
• providing employability skills
• developing collaborative skills (ARGLES ET AL., 2017; MINOCHA &
TUDOR, 2017; BROWN & GREEN, 2016; HOWARD, 2016)