A chemistry laboratory platform enhanced with virtual reality for students’ adaptive learning

  • Oluwatoyin C. Agbonifo Department of Information Systems, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
  • Oluwafemi A. Sarumi Department of Computer Science, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
  • Yewande M. Akinola Department of Computer Science, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v28.2419
Keywords: virtual reality, virtual chemistry laboratory, titration, computer interaction

Abstract

In recent years, virtual reality system (VRS) has become more prominent among many researchers due to its capacity of providing as close as possible to real-life experience for users from diverse fields of life, such as tourism, academics, manufacturing and medicine. In this study, we present an VRS for the titration experiment in a chemistry laboratory to enable students to learn the titration experiment in a virtual laboratory environment before proceeding to the chemistry wet lab. The virtual chemistry laboratory environment was developed using the Unity Real-Time Development Platform, and the Microsoft SQL Server was used for the database to enable easy assessment of the student performance after the experiment. To evaluate our VRS, we tested it among 50 students (25 high school and 25 first-year undergraduate chemistry students). We collate their user’s experience through a structured questionnaire, and the responses from the students show that 60% agreed that it was helpful, 66% easy to interact with and 54% strongly agreed that it improved learning. Therefore, it is evidence that the proposed VR-enabled chemistry laboratory platform could be used to improve the understanding of chemistry titration practical process among students.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References


Babateen, H. M. (2011) ‘The role of virtual laboratories in science education’, 5th International Conference on Distance Learning and Education IPCSIT, Singapore, vol. 12, pp. 100–104.


Balogun, V. F., Thompson, A. F. & Sarumi, O. A. (2010) ‘A 3D geo-spatial virtual reality system for virtual tourism’, Pacific Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 601–660.


Bortnik, B., et al., (2017) ‘Effect of virtual analytical chemistry laboratory on enhancing student research skills and practices’, Research in Learning Technology, vol. 25, pp. 1–25. doi: 10.25304/rlt.v25.1968


Buyuksalih, I., et al., (2017) ‘3D Modelling And Visualization Based On The Unity Game Engine – Advantages And Challenges’, ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Turkey, vol. IV-4/W4, pp. 161–166. doi: 10.5194/isprs-annals-IV-4-W4-161-2017


Holden, M. K. (2005) ‘Virtual environments for motor rehabilitation’, Cyberpsychology & Behavior, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 187–211. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2005.8.187


Morozov, M., et al., (2004) ‘Virtual chemistry laboratory for school education’, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, 2004.Proceedings, Joensuu, pp. 605–608.


Muhamad, M., Zaman, H. B. & Ahmad, A. (2012) ‘Virtual biology laboratory (VLab-Bio): scenario-based learning approach’, Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 69, pp. 162–168. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.395


Peplow, M. & Marris, E. (2006) ‘How dangerous is chemistry?’, Nature, vol. 441, no. 7093, pp. 560–561. doi: 10.1038/441560a


Shiratuddin, M. & Zulkifli, A. N. (2001) ‘Virtual reality in manufacturing’, ResearchGate, vol. 1, pp. 1–13.


Shudayfat, E., Moldoveanu, F. & Moldoveanu, A. (2012) ‘A 3D virtual learning environment for teaching chemistry in high school’, Annals of DAAAM for 2012 & Proceedings of the 23rd International DAAAM Symposium, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 0423–0428.


Tatli, Z. & Ayas, A. (2010) ‘Virtual laboratory applications in chemistry education’, Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 9, pp. 938–942. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.263


Tsovaltzi, D., et al., (2010) ‘Extending a virtual chemistry laboratory with a collaboration script to promote conceptual learning’, International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, vol. 2, no. 1–2, pp. 91–110. doi: 10.1504/IJTEL.2010.031262


Winkler, P. F. (2013) ‘Introduction to Unity3D Workshop’, AD41700 Computer Games, pp. 1–13.


Zurweni, W. & Erwin, T. N. (2017) ‘Development of collaborative-creative learning model using virtual laboratory media for instrumental analytical chemistry lectures’, American Institute of Physics Conference Series, vol. 1868, no. 030010, pp. 1–8.
Published
2020-09-11
How to Cite
Agbonifo O. C., Sarumi O. A., & Akinola Y. M. (2020). A chemistry laboratory platform enhanced with virtual reality for students’ adaptive learning. Research in Learning Technology, 28. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v28.2419
Issue
Vol. 28 (2020)
Section
Original Research Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors contributing to Research in Learning Technology retain the copyright of their article and at the same time agree to publish their articles under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, for any purpose, even commercially, under the condition that appropriate credit is given, that a link to the license is provided, and that you indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.


Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC