Session: Undergraduate Research Posters: Chemistry Education:

Virtual Reality (VR) lab experiences for organic chemistry were developed at NC State University as an accessibility tool for students that are unable to attend in-person labs due to disabilities, attendance challenges such as pregnancy, or safety concerns^.The resulting first-person VR experiences are immersive and realistic, with a teaching assistant guiding the user along the steps required to complete the experiment, including feedback as needed. Due to the recent pandemic, these labs have been used as a replacement for traditional labs at NC State and several other universities^.In this study, conducted during the summer of 2020, we used the Meaningful Learning in the Laboratory Instrument (MLLI) to measure students’ expectations before and after VR lab experiences, in both the cognitive and affective domains. We also compare our outcomes to a cohort of students at Miami University in Ohio that took the lab in person during the Fall of 2013. Results suggest that students in virtual reality organic chemistry labs had very similar responses to the cognitive items in the pre- and post- MLLI surveys to students that took in-person labs. However, students in virtual reality labs had higher average post-scores in a number of questions from the affective and cognitive/affective categories. Most of the items for which higher post-scores were observed deal with frustration or confusion while taking the labs, which seems to indicate a positive effect in those items in the students included in this sample. It has to be noted that this study was conducted in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic; for that reason, the results presented here might not be typical, and further investigation is needed to determine their extent.

Nicholas Williams

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