extended-abstract

A Case Study on Student Experiences of Social VR in a Remote STEM Classroom

Authors:

Gareth W. Young,

Néill C. O'Dwyer,

Aljosa SmolicAuthors Info & Claims

CHI EA '23: Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Article No.: 374, Pages 1 - 8

https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3573852

Published: 19 April 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Extended reality (XR) technologies continue gaining traction in multiple higher education contexts. As XR becomes more commercially accessible to students and universities, its convenience for educational purposes presents a renewed potential for exploration. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, there is also a growing interest in cross-platform, socially orientated software for remote educational practices. However, the precise role of XR technologies and how they contribute to student experiences of remote learning, particularly the unique affordances of social virtual reality (VR) for evoking an embodied sense of presence, is relatively unknown. Based on real-world experiences, we present a case study on a social VR intervention in a remote higher education classroom to inspire Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers to investigate further the issues that arise from our practice-based research. Our motivations were to report, analyze, and summarize everyday virtual learning environment (VLE) challenges, identify design considerations for VLE technologies, and comment on social VR’s utility in delivering Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in a remote setting. We apply a practical approach to investigate and identify potential HCI problems, capture the unique experiences of STEM students during the lockdown, and explore the effects of tutorial activities that give students agency in constructing VLEs. The findings of this student-focused case study draw attention to the design of social VR activities that support conventional, web browser-based VLEs.

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Cited By

Johnson DMamani BSalas C(2024)CollabVR: VR Testing for Increasing Social Interaction between College StudentsComputers10.3390/computers1302004013:2(40)Online publication date: 29-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13020040
Li YZhou JLi JZhan Z(2024)Exploring Pedagogical Strategies for Integrating Virtual Reality and 3D Printing in C-STEAM Curriculum DevelopmentProceedings of the 2024 8th International Conference on Digital Technology in Education (ICDTE)10.1145/3696230.3696263(84-93)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3696230.3696263
Read JHorton MFitton DKing JSim GAllen JDoumanis IGraham TXu DTierney MLochrie MMacKenzie S(2024)Inclusive Child Engagement in HCI: Exploring Ocean Health with SchoolchildrenProceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference10.1145/3628516.3655750(83-92)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3628516.3655750
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

A Case Study on Student Experiences of Social VR in a Remote STEM Classroom
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing
  2. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Empirical studies in HCI
    2. HCI design and evaluation methods
      1. User studies

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI EA '23: Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2023

3914 pages

ISBN:9781450394222

DOI:10.1145/3544549

Editors:
Albrecht Schmidt
LMU Munich, Germany
,
Kaisa Väänänen
Tampere University, Finland
,
Tesh Goyal
Google Research, USA
,
Per Ola Kristensson
University of Cambridge, UK
,
Anicia Peters
University of Namibia, Namibia

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Published: 19 April 2023

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Cited By

Johnson DMamani BSalas C(2024)CollabVR: VR Testing for Increasing Social Interaction between College StudentsComputers10.3390/computers1302004013:2(40)Online publication date: 29-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13020040
Li YZhou JLi JZhan Z(2024)Exploring Pedagogical Strategies for Integrating Virtual Reality and 3D Printing in C-STEAM Curriculum DevelopmentProceedings of the 2024 8th International Conference on Digital Technology in Education (ICDTE)10.1145/3696230.3696263(84-93)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3696230.3696263
Read JHorton MFitton DKing JSim GAllen JDoumanis IGraham TXu DTierney MLochrie MMacKenzie S(2024)Inclusive Child Engagement in HCI: Exploring Ocean Health with SchoolchildrenProceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference10.1145/3628516.3655750(83-92)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3628516.3655750
Johnson DMamani BSalas C(2024)CollabVR: A Social VR Architecture for Social Interaction Between College StudentsInformation Management and Big Data10.1007/978-3-031-63616-5_9(121-130)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-63616-5_9
Wang XYoung GIqbal MGuckin C(2023)The potential of extended reality in Rural Education’s future – perspectives from rural educatorsEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-023-12169-729:7(8987-9011)Online publication date: 4-Sep-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10639-023-12169-7

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