Designing STEM Learning Activity Based on Virtual Reality

Abstract

As teaching materials continue to develop and improve, learners have gradually shifted from abstract learning methods such as learning formulas and understanding images to hands-on learning. Learners apply the acquired knowledge and skills to practical STEM hands-on experiential courses to verify the formulas and knowledge they have acquired. Hands-on learning effectively helps learners transform abstract knowledge into conceptual skills and practical abilities and apply these in practical fields. In a traditional STEM hands-on learning experiment environment, learners verify knowledge through experiments. However, in the experimental fields set up at many schools and laboratories, there is often a lack of experimental equipment. Also, in experiments such as fire drills and medical experiments, learners may not be permitted to perform actual operations and practices in laboratories due to safety factors. Learners lack a safe and secure learning environment where they can study anytime, anywhere. Therefore, we design and develop a virtual reality system which we apply to embedded electronic circuit learning activities, creating for learners a virtual environment for immersive learning. The effectiveness of the system is verified through a pilot study using the technology acceptance model (TAM) to measure learner acceptance. The results of this study and the analysis of the TAM data show that the system was well-accepted by participants.