Enhancing Calculus Learning through Interactive VR and AR Technologies: A Study on Immersive Educational Tools

Abstract

In the realm of collegiate education, calculus can be quite challenging for students. Many students struggle to visualize abstract concepts, as mathematics often moves into strict arithmetic rather than geometric understanding. Our study presents an innovative solution to this problem: an immersive, interactive VR graphing tool capable of standard 2D graphs, solids of revolution, and a series of visualizations deemed potentially useful to struggling students. This tool was developed within the Unity 3D engine, and while interaction and expression parsing rely on existing libraries, core functionalities were developed independently. As a pilot study, it includes qualitative information from a survey of students currently or previously enrolled in Calculus II/III courses, revealing its potential effectiveness. This survey primarily aims to determine the tool’s viability in future endeavors. The positive response suggests the tool’s immediate usefulness and its promising future in educational settings, prompting further exploration and consideration for adaptation into an Augmented Reality (AR) environment.

Keywords

• virtual reality
• VR
• solids of revolution
• education
• interactive learning
• spatial reasoning