"Integrating Virtual Reality in a Computer-Based Laboratory" is carrying out a plan to provide community college science students at Quinebaug Valley Community-Technical College with state of the art tools for analyzing scientific data. Three existing technologies are being implemented in a single facility: 1) a traditional computer-based multi-purpose science laboratory, 2) tools for analyzing real-world data from the internet, and 3) virtual reality technology for viewing data from multiple perspectives. This integrated lab utilizes computerized student experiment stations with multiple sensing devices, an especially robust UNIX workstation, and a variety of data analysis software tools. The lab enhances students' understanding of science in several ways. a) Students are able to perform more thorough analysis of their own experiment. b) Through virtual reality, students are able to view "virtual experiments" from multiple perspectives. 4) Students are able to utilize huge amounts of real-world data which are readily available on the internet, thus gaining a better sense of what science is all about. No one aspect of this project is particularly novel. The innovation comes in putting together existing tools in a laboratory which can serve as a model for undergraduate science.
