Development of virtual learning for chemistry subject based on constructivism-contextual approach

Identifying the Characteristics of Virtual Reality Gamification for Complex Educational Topics

“…This difficulty may affect students' performance and their self-efficacy [11]. The latter is influenced by the learner's ability to interact and control the learning environment [12][13][14][15]. Therefore, this type is best suited to a hybrid approach of teaching and information presentation, which can enable the students to explore and configure the chemical compound models through their own initiative.…”

“…Additionally, these future applications should be accessible outside the university's laboratories and available at any given time. The latter has previously been identified as a major obstacle for the student's learning process in other disciplines (i.e., medicine and anatomy), which were found to be heavily dependent on timetabled access to laboratories for training [15][16][17][18].…”

“…The mental translation of 2D images into 3D models is also a challenging issue for the majority of students in other disciplines. Previous studies related to the teaching of human anatomy presented similar issues because the medical students found it difficult to visualize the 2D drawings from medical textbooks as real 3D structures related to the human body [13][14][15][23][24][25]. The gradual utilization of physical and static 3D models was introduced to alleviate this issue, with limited success, because the physical models had a predetermined interaction that did not reflect the actual properties of the real-life model [26,27] as illustated in Figure 1.…”

“…VR learning systems also support learning theories, such as the constructivist theory, which refers to the idea that learners can construct knowledge on their own initiative and through experiencing knowledge information [15,38]. VR systems based on constructivist learning theory provide the 3D experimental environment, which enhances students' ability to solve problems and fosters students' constructive ability [15]. Advancement in emerging visualization technologies enables more users to experience this enhanced form of learning.…”

“…The result of the conducted interviews showed that the material taught to students is usually difficult to understand, memorize, and apply using traditional teaching and learning modalities (textbooks, presentations, and explanatory images). This is indicated by the results of previous studies that aimed to identify the effectiveness of VR educational applications for the improvement of complex medical teaching [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. In this particular case, the difficulties students experience are mainly due to the abstract and unobservable features of the chemical structures of drugs, which are usually displayed in the 2D format in books and lectures.…”