The goals of the study were (a) to compare the instructional effectiveness of immersive virtual reality (VR) versus a desktop slideshow as media for teaching scientific knowledge, and (b) to examine the efficacy of adding a generative learning strategy to a VR lesson. In Experiment 1, college students viewed a biology lesson about how the human…

Mutation, diversity, natural selection and the biology of human pathogens (including antibiotic resistance) are key features of the biosciences curriculum at A Level and undergraduate study. Few resources exist to allow students to engage with these topics in an interactive manner. This paper describes an interactive, online simulation of mutation…

This paper gives a focussed summary of good practice taken primarily from engineers who are responsible for teaching topics related to systems and control. This engineering specialisation allows the paper to give some degree of focus in the discussions around laboratories, software and assessment, although naturally many of the conclusions are…

The introduction of low-cost hand-held devices has provided K-12 educators with the opportunity to teach using virtual reality (VR). However, the efficacy of VR in K-12 classrooms for teaching and learning has not been established. Therefore, the purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the influence of virtual reality field trips…

Early career teachers working in high poverty schools face of overwhelming challenges navigating disruptive behaviors with studies highlighting behavior problems as one of the strongest predictors of turnover (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003). Simulation-based technology leverages important pedagogical strengths (e.g., realistic training context,…

Students with special needs in mathematics lessons can be specifically supported through virtual reality (VR) if they are offered virtual learning environments that offer real benefits through their implementation in VR. In addition to learning by doing, the visualization of mathematical facts in 3D for the training of imagination can offer added…

Gamification--the use of game mechanics in conventionally nongame activities--has received attention in the field of education. Games, however, are not reducible to the common mechanisms of gamification that target extrinsic motivation, and may also include elements such as role playing, world making, and collective storytelling. Here, the authors…

The concept of "seeing by feeling" as a way to circumvent limitations on sight is universal on the macroscopic scale--reading Braille, feeling one's way around a dark room, etc. The development of the atomic force microscope (AFM) in 1986 extended this concept to imaging in the nanoscale. While there are classroom demonstrations that use…

Today's working life is increasingly characterized by entrepreneurial challenges. Entrepreneurial challenges start at an individual level with the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities, which is acknowledged as one of the key competencies for lifelong learning. Since the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities relies heavily on…

Causal mapping is often recognized as a technique to support strategic decisions and actions in complex problem situations. Such drawing of causal structures is supposed to particularly foster the understanding of the interaction of the various system elements and to further encourage holistic thinking. It builds on the idea that humans make use…

This paper reports a computer model simulation created using Easy Java Simulation (EJS) for learners to visualize how the steady-state amplitude of a driven oscillating system varies with the frequency of the periodic driving force. The simulation shows (N = 100) identical spring-mass systems being subjected to (1) a periodic driving force of…

This emerging technology report describes virtual environment interactions an approach for blending movement and computer programming as an embodied way to support girls in building computational thinking skills. The authors seek to understand how body syntonicity might enable young learners to bootstrap their intuitive knowledge in order to…

Background: Topic of e-learning and virtual university in recent years is one of the important applications of information and communication technology in the world and most famous universities in the field of education development have done important steps. For as much as the importance of learning and development in every community, and to keep…

Laboratories studying the anisotropic rotational diffusion of bromobenzene using nuclear spin relaxation and molecular dynamics simulations are described. For many undergraduates, visualizing molecular motion is challenging. Undergraduates rarely encounter laboratories that directly assess molecular motion, and so the concept remains an…

Minecraft has become well established in the world of education. Around the world, the game is being used in a variety of educational settings for virtual project work and as a virtual world for collaboration and social interaction. Minecraft is an activity players want to talk about. It is a game they want to learn more about. In order to do…