Pedagogy of Productive Failure: Navigating the Challenges of Integrating VR into the Classroom

Abstract

The surge of popular interest in virtual reality (VR), largely driven by recent advances making the hardware and software for VR development and use accessible to average consumers, is showing all the signs of a durable trend. One of those signs is active uptake in the academy, both for research (where it was pioneered) and in the classroom (where its footing is less certain). To be sure, VR offers exciting and relatively underdeveloped pedagogical terrain for teachers looking to enhance their curricula by deploying technologies that might optimize the learning process. This article offers a critical reflection on one such effort, specifically, our academic team’s grant-funded digital humanities research project called Focused Associational Thinking-Virtual Reality (FAT-VR). The main premise of the project was to create a virtual reality environment where students could cultivate creative fluency in divergent thinking. Such competencies are thought to afford students with a means of “thinking things together” in the service of transdisciplinary inquiry and problem solving. This essay recounts how, as we attempted to “move forward” by harnessing VR, we often found ourselves going “backward” and “in circles” due to technological glitches and challenging student feedback. Putting our digital pedagogy project in conversation with phenomenological philosophy and critical theory, we offer a provocation on how forward motion can sometimes set us back pedagogically, and how disorienting experiences—even failure—can become productive.

From Worklife Competencies to Educational Virtual Reality Implementations

“…VR has already been studied and adopted in various areas, such as computer science, engineering, geography, transportation, and learning hands-on skills in the construction industry [1], [3], [25]. The extent of existing research on applying VR in specific domains varies, but overall, virtual learning should be highly interactive because people learn by doing [2].…”

“…Virtual reality (VR) is a trending technology that is currently used and studied in the field of education [1]- [3]. It is a feasible tool in education, for example, as it provides a way to create digital twins [4] of real-life environments, objects, and people, as well as of person learning [5].…”

Case Experiences With Immigrants on Workforce Training Using Virtual Reality

“…VR is increasingly being used in delivering learning and training material. VR has been particularly relevant in fields such as medicine, engineering, aviation, and safety training with suggested benefits of interaction, immersion, deep concentration, and real-life experiences (Dalgarno et al, 2002;Kulik et al, 2017;Melo et al, 2019;Wallach et al, 2011). Training situations can be either individual or collaborative, and participants learn by actively participating in the learning situation.…”

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“…[3] [4]. It has been suggested [5] that VR can support learning because it allows students to actively participate to the learning situation. VR is an immersive experience in which a person is deeply concentrated on their assignments without external distractions and unaware of being in a virtual world.…”