Student experiences of virtual reality: A case study in learning special relativity

摘要

A teaching package has been developed centered around a relativistic virtual reality. It introducesnconcepts of special relativity to students in a gamelike environment where users experience theneffects of traveling at near light speeds. From this perspective, space and time are significantlyndifferent from that experienced in everyday life. We explore how students worked with thisnenvironment and how they used this experience in their study of special relativity. Students foundnthe simulation to be a positive learning experience and described the subject area as being lessnabstract after its use. Students were more capable of correctly answering concept questions relatingnto special relativity, and a small but measurable improvement was observed in the final exam.n© 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers.