The Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program provides support to design, implement, study and assess efforts to increase the numbers of students and the quality of their preparation by strengthening science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research. This project at Tuskegee University provides a strategic approach to infuse selected courses in aerospace engineering, biology, mathematics, mechanical engineering, and physics with immersive virtual reality lessons. Undergraduate students are involved in this project as researchers.
This two-year pilot project has the goals to determine the impact of integrating virtual reality in the learning environment of undergraduate STEM education, to identify challenges and determine limitations of virtual reality technology in STEM undergraduate education, and to establish best practices of this pedagogical approach. The project will achieve these goals by: establishing an infrastructure with the required hardware and software to develop, test and implement virtual reality-based lessons on selected STEM topics; reinforcing STEM concepts through experimental and hands-on technology-based learning activities; increasing student engagement utilizing the interactive learning experience; and improving the learning outcomes of students with the virtual reality technology-infused STEM courses. The project will study the efficacy of this intervention using qualitative and quantitative measures. The project will be guided by formative and summative evaluation.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
