Abstract
Computer-aided visualisation has played an essential role in helping students construct a better understanding of molecular interactions over the years. However, students still need to translate 2D images on a screen into 3D molecular structures in their minds, and they often find it challenging to develop a clear mental picture of complex molecules. As an alternative platform for molecular visualisation, immersive virtual reality (VR) holds great promise for addressing students’ difficulties. To examine the educational possibilities and limitations of immersive VR environments, we adopted a design research approach. We developed a series of learning activities to teach students about an enzyme and its interactions with substrates and then conducted a user study in an immersive VR environment. Twenty-two first-year university chemistry students participated in the user study. Their VR sessions along with pre- and post-interviews were video-recorded and later analysed to understand how various features of the immersive VR activities supported and impeded students’ conceptual understanding and their ability to visualise molecules. Future research directions and the implications for chemistry teaching are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ainsworth, S. (2008). How do animations influence learning? In D. Robinson & G. Schraw (Eds.), Current perspectives on cognition, learning, and instruction: Recent innovations in educational technology that facilitate student learning (pp. 37–67). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Anderson, A., & Weng, Z. (1999). VRDD: Applying virtual reality visualization to protein docking and design. Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling, 17(3–4), 180–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1093-3263(99)00029-7.
Biocca, F., & Delaney, B. (1992). Immersive virtual reality technology. In F. Biocca & M. R. Levy (Eds.), Communication in the age of virtual reality (pp. 57–124). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Collins, A., Joseph, D., & Bielaczyc, K. (2004). Design research: Theoretical and methodological issues. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 15–42. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327809jls1301_2.
Dede, C. (2009). Immersive interfaces for engagement and learning. Science, 323(5910), 66–69. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1167311.
Dede, C., Jacobson, J., & Richards, J. (2017). Introduction: Virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in education. In D. Liu, C. Dede, R. Huang, & J. Richards (Eds.), Virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in education (pp. 1–16). Smart Computing and Intelligence), Singapore: Springer.
Gardner, M. R., & Sheaffer, W. W. (2017). Systems to support co-creative collaboration in mixed-reality environments. In D. Liu, C. Dede, R. Huang, & J. Richards (Eds.), Virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in education (pp. 157–178). Smart Computing and Intelligence), Singapore: Springer.
Gavish, N., Gutiérrez, T., Webel, S., Rodríguez, J., Peveri, M., Bockholt, U., et al. (2013). Evaluating virtual reality and augmented reality training for industrial maintenance and assembly tasks. Interactive Learning Environments, 23(6), 778–798. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2013.815221.
Gilbert, J. K., & Treagust, D. F. (Eds.). (2009). Multiple representations in chemical education (Models and Modeling in Science Education). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Hansen, M. M. (2008). Versatile, immersive, creative and dynamic virtual 3-D healthcare learning environments: A review of the literature. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 10(3), e26. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1051.
Jones, L. L. (2013). How multimedia-based learning and molecular visualization change the landscape of chemical education research. Journal of Chemical Education, 90(12), 1571–1576. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed4001206.
Jones, L. L., & Kelly, R. M. (2015). Visualization: The key to understanding chemistry concepts. In M. V. Orna (Ed.), Sputnik to smartphones: A half-century of chemistry education (pp. 121–140). American Chemical Society.
Krämer, N. C. (2017). The Immersive power of social interaction. In D. Liu, C. Dede, R. Huang, & J. Richards (Eds.), Virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in education (pp. 55–70). Singapore: Springer.
Limniou, M., Roberts, D., & Papadopoulos, N. (2008). Full immersive virtual environment CAVE in chemistry education. Computers & Education, 51(2), 584–593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2007.06.014.
Liu, D., Dede, C., Huang, R., & Richards, J. (Eds.). (2017). Virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in education (Smart Computing and Intelligence). Singapore: Springer.
Lowe, R., & Boucheix, J.-M. (2017). A composition approach to design of educational animations. In R. Lowe & R. Ploetzner (Eds.), Learning from dynamic visualization (pp. 5–30). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
McElhaney, K. W., Chang, H.-Y., Chiu, J. L., & Linn, M. C. (2014). Evidence for effective uses of dynamic visualisations in science curriculum materials. Studies in Science Education, 51(1), 49–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2014.984506.
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ploetzner, R., & Lowe, R. (2004). Dynamic visualisations and learning. Learning and Instruction, 14(3), 235–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2004.06.001.
Scheiter, K. (2017). Design of effective dynamic visualizations: A struggle between the beauty and the beast? Commentary on parts I and II. In R. Lowe & R. Ploetzner (Eds.), Learning from dynamic visualization (pp. 233–251). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Schwan, S., & Papenmeier, F. (2017). Learning from animations: From 2D to 3D? In R. Lowe & R. Ploetzner (Eds.), Learning from dynamic visualisation. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Slater, M. (2017). Implicit learning through embodiment in immersive virtual reality. In D. Liu, C. Dede, R. Huang, & J. Richards (Eds.), Virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in education (pp. 19–33). Smart Computing and Intelligence), Singapore: Springer.
Tasker, R. (2017). Molecular-level visualisation for educational purposes. In M. Springborg & J. Joswig (Eds.), Chemical modelling (pp. 261–282). Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry.
Treagust, D. F., Chittleborough, G., & Mamiala, T. (2003). The role of submicroscopic and symbolic representations in chemical explanations. International Journal of Science Education, 25(11), 1353–1368. https://doi.org/10.1080/0950069032000070306.
Treagust, D. F., Won, M., & Duit, R. (2014). Paradigms in science education research. In N. G. Lederman & S. K. Abell (Eds.), Handbook of research on science education (2nd ed., pp. 3–17). New York: Routledge.
Tse, C.-M., Li, H., Leung, K.-S., Lee, K.-H., & Wong, M.-H. (2011). Interactive drug design in virtual reality. Paper presented at the 15th International Conference on Information Visualisation, 2011/07.
Won, M., Yoon, H., & Treagust, D. F. (2014). Students’ learning strategies with multiple representations: Explanations of the human breathing mechanism. Science Education, 98(5), 840–866. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21128.
Wu, H.-K., & Shah, P. (2004). Exploring visuospatial thinking in chemistry learning. Science Education, 88(3), 465–492. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.10126.
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the Research and Innovation Support Program (RISP17-02) at the School of Education, Curtin University. Adam Mathewson and Jesse Helliwell contributed to the development of the VR application. Jianye Wei and Vergel Mirana contributed to running the user study sessions. Hyerin Park synchronised the video and audio files for analysis. Curtin HIVE (Highly Immersive Visualisation eResearch) provided technical support and hosted the user trial sessions for the project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Won, M., Mocerino, M., Tang, KS., Treagust, D.F., Tasker, R. (2019). Interactive Immersive Virtual Reality to Enhance Students’ Visualisation of Complex Molecules. In: Schultz, M., Schmid, S., Lawrie, G. (eds) Research and Practice in Chemistry Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6998-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6998-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-6997-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-6998-8
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)