Virtual Reality Esteem Project October 2018 Richard Treves

Virtual Reality Esteem Project October 2018 Richard Treves, Learning Designer Bryan Singer STEM Innovate • Design • Enhance

AR/VR OU History (known to me) Define difference Simple (think ‘Streetview +’ ): - S 104: Photospheres Galapagos - Archaeology: Pompeii photospheres with map Complex: - W 360: Presenting skills, virtual students shuffle in seats - Virtual Skiddaw: Highly detailed field environment Avatar in browser, cheap! Innovate • Design • Enhance

Research Questions What is the effect of level of immersion on subjects experience of VR in psychology teaching? Is putting students in a virtual rat cage helpful in having them engage with learning about such experiments in psychology? Teaching question: Can we link this to student tracking in a real OU module avoiding risks and maximising teaching opportunities? Innovate • Design • Enhance

Methadology Build a rat signal/reward cage using Unity. Students are split into four subject groups: - in browser VR - Low end headset - High end headset - Physical room Track students and collate results as experimental data. Innovate • Design • Enhance

Potential Impact on distance teaching - Explore ‘immersion’ as teaching motivator and its dependence on hardware - Crowdsourced student data is motivating, does it work in this instance? - Trailblazing high end VR into a module at a reasonable cost. Innovate • Design • Enhance