Immersive Interactive Quantum Mechanics for Teaching and Learning Chemistry

The impossibility of experiencing the molecular world with our senses hampers teaching and understanding chemistry because very abstract concepts (such as atoms, chemical bonds, molecular structure, reactivity) are required for this process. Virtual reality, especially when based on explicit physical modeling (potentially in real time), offers a solution to this dilemma. Chemistry teaching can make use of advanced technologies such as virtual-reality frameworks and haptic devices. We show how an immersive learning setting could be applied to help students understand the core concepts of typical chemical reactions by offering a much more intuitive approach than traditional learning settings. Our setting relies on an interactive exploration and manipulation of a chemical system; this system is simulated in real-time with quantum chemical methods, and therefore, behaves in a physically meaningful way.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

CHEMISTRY STUDENTS' OPINIONS ABOUT TAKING CHEMISTRY EDUCATION AS DISTANCE EDUCATION

The aim of this study is to determine the opinions of the students studying in chemical and chemical processing technologies departments on take chemistry education in the form of distance education. The research sample consists of students studying in chemistry and petrochemical technology programs in Kocaeli Vocational School. It was applied to students studying in related departments in the fall semester of 2018-2019. The sample consists of 149 students. The mixed method has been adopted in the research. Scale and interview questions were prepared with the literature review. The reliability coefficient of the Chemistry Distance Education Scale was 0.945. There was a high correlation between the dimensions of the scale consisting of three dimensions. In quantitative research; a relationship was found between income and chemistry distance education. It was found that students with low income level were eligible for distance education in chemistry. Distance education diminish students' costs of housing and transportation. In addition, there is no relationship between the gender of the students, the type of education, the level of education of the parents, the department and the class. The qualitative research findings are: a large part of the students indicate that the distance education infrastructure is not sufficient. According to the students, chemistry education is considered to be sufficient for theoretical knowledge only as distance education. Students do not want to take laboratory applications as distance education. Distance education cannot eliminate the need to touch materials while adding visuality. It is determined that students are not ready to take chemistry education from distance education as cultural and cognitive.  Article visualizations

The Use of Virtual Reality to Reduce L2 Speaking Anxiety

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, & Technology has issued a shift in the focus of English education from a test-focused grammar pedagogy to a four-skill communicative one by 2020, introducing new challenges for both teachers and students. One of those challenges is the increase in L2 speaking anxiety which students are experiencing in class. Public speaking anxiety and L2 speaking anxiety can both affect student L2 performance. Several anxiety-reducing methods exist but may not be appropriate for the language classroom. This paper puts forward the argument that virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) is a form of anxiety reduction which can be used in the L2 classroom. VRET has shown to be effective at helping people who suffer from a variety of psychological and anxiety related disorders. While its’ application for treating learners affected by speaking anxieties is still on-going, the current research has been quite positive. Additionally, implementing VRET into a curriculum also provides students with more opportunities to use language in authentic settings, better preparing them for real world use. While some negative physical reactions, such as visually induced motion sickness and other forms of visual discomfort, might happen with a few users, the perception of benefit and increased motivation which have been reported could encourage students to endure the initial discomfort. In the future, both VR headset and software developers should prioritize eliminating the discomforts associated with modern VR headsets

Learning chemical reaction via augmented reality

The possibility of using Augmented Reality (AR) program as supplementary material in learning chemistry is evaluated in this paper. Chemistry is regarded as difficult to learn due to abstract nature of the subject. The content learning of the subject comprises multiple levels of representation, which challenge the conceptual understanding and problem solving of a student. This study is trying to identify the difficulty of learning chemistry particularly in acids and bases topic in term of conceptual understanding and algorithmic problem solving. Students are known to consistently make mistake writing the symbol of chemical formulas and also confused between the use of subscript and coefficient of a chemical formula. These eventually lead to wrong stoichiometry in balancing the chemical equation. The mistakes snowball into bigger problems when students are not able to understand the chemical equation in term of the algorithm and also conceptual. In order to the address the issues, students’ understanding regarding the chemical reaction of acids and bases should be investigated to elucidate student alternative conception if any in order to suggest suitable features for learning acids and bases chemical reaction using the AR program. As the issue is considered prevalent, the need of effective and promising solution is critical, thus AR should be evaluated as a supplementary teaching aid. AR helps students in visualizing the microscopic part of the reaction hence should promote correct understanding of the chemical reaction. The technology is considered recent and the use in chemistry field has been reported. However in chemical reaction learning, data supporting the effectiveness of the AR program is still insufficient. The effectiveness of the program towards students’ algorithmic problems solving and conceptual understanding in the acids and bases topic can be investigated. The results from the study should suggest the significance of the AR program in learning chemical reaction and equation in chemistry

Learning Through the Life Span: A Conceptual Virtual Simulation Model

Teaching in a virtual environment has been a natural progression of advancements in information and communication technologies. The current issues with virtual teaching models appear to be related with the effective simulation of course content, some teaching materials are easier to be visualised in a simulation than others. For example, nursing through the life span is a module which was introduced in the nursing syllabus at Wintec (Waikato Institute of Technology) in 2009. The module explores the learnt experiences and the impact of ill health on a patient’s family and their development. The theoretical contents of the module make it difficult to teach in a virtual environment. However, using a unified health informatics system and advanced statistical and probability modelling, human behaviour can be explored and modelled. The results can then be integrated with the available technology into an appropriate virtual classroom. In this paper, the application of health informatics together with virtual classroom technology is conceptualised as an aid for teaching human behaviour

An approach to develop intelligent learning environments by means of immersive virtual worlds

Merging Immersive Virtual Environments, Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence techniques provides a number of advantages to develop Intelligent Environments for multiple applications. This paper is focused on the application of these technologies to develop intelligent learning environments. Education is one of the most interesting applications of immersive virtual environments, as their flexibility can be exploited in order to create heterogeneous groups from all over the world who can collaborate synchronously in different virtual spaces. We highlight the potential of virtual worlds as an educative tool and propose a model to create learning environments within Second Life or OpenSimulator combining the Moodle learning management system, embodied conversational metabots, and programmable 3D objects. Our proposal has been applied in several subjects of the Computer Science degree in the Carlos III University of Madrid. The results of the evaluation show that developed learning environment fosters engagement and collaboration and helps students to better understand complex concepts.This work was supported in part by Projects MINECO TEC2012-37832-C02-01, CICYT TEC2011-28626-C02-02, CAM CONTEXTS (S2009/TIC-1485).Publicad

Virtual Reality Laboratories in Engineering Blended Learning Environments: Challenges and Opportunities

A great number of educational institutions worldwide have had their activities partially or fully interrupted following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, universities have had to take the necessary steps in order to adapt their teaching, including laboratory workshops, to a fully online or mixed mode of delivery while maintaining their academic standards and providing a high-quality student experience. This transition has required, among other efforts, adequate investments in tools, accessibility, content development, and competences as well as appropriate training for both the teaching and administrative staff. In such a complex scenario, Virtual Reality Laboratories (VRLabs), which in the past already proved themselves to be efficient tools supporting the traditional practical activities, could well represent a valid alternative in the hybrid didactic mode of the contemporary educational landscape, rethinking the educational proposal in light of the indications coming from the scientific literature in the pedagogical field. In this context, the present work carries out a critical review of the existent virtual labs developed in the Engineering departments in the last ten years (2010-2020) and includes a pre-pandemic experience of a VRLab tool-StreamFlowVR-within the Hydraulics course of Basilicata University, Italy. This analysis is aimed at highlighting how ready VRLabs are to be exploited not only in emergency but also in ordinary situations, together with valorising an interdisciplinary dialogue between the pedagogical and technological viewpoints, in order to progressively foster a high-quality and evidence-based educational experience

VIRTUAL REALITY AND BLOGGING IN TOURISM: APPROACHED TOWARDS CREATING BETTER TOURIST EXPERIENCE

Virtual reality in tourism (virtual tourism) and blogging are highly valuable for visitors and travellers since they allow them to undertake a scouting trip before embarking on their adventure, avoid being hassled and avoid crowds while learning more about the location they are visiting or have already been. This paper provides an overview and analysis of the relationship between virtual tourism, blogging, and making the image of tourist destinations through promotion virtually and via blogs. According to the study\u27s findings, virtual tourism cannot replace the actual experience, but it can assist in recreating it if the user has previously visited the location, bringing out new nuances in their experience, or giving them a taste of the destination ahead of time if they have not yet visited. Also, when it comes to digital marketing for tourism, blogging is the frosting on the cake because it is utilized for promotion and communication throughout the pre-travel period, focusing on behavioural factors