Online Virtual Reality-Based vs. Face-to-Face Physics Laboratory: A Case Study in Distance Learning Science Curriculum

Abstract

In the context of this work, a physics laboratory exercise was designed and implemented in a virtual reality environment with the aim of familiarizing students with the process of collecting measurements, applying basic methods of statistical analysis, and drawing conclusions. Two groups of second-year students from the “Natural Sciences” undergraduate program of the School of Science and Technology at the Hellenic Open University (HOU) were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training methodology. The first group consisted of 31 students who performed the laboratory exercise in person with the guidance of a tutor, while the second group consisted of 26 students who used the virtual reality laboratory without supervision. The results showed that the second group demonstrated an improvement in achieving the expected results.

Keywords

• virtual reality
• virtual laboratories
• physics education
• distance education