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 introduces concepts of special relativity to students in a gamelike environment where users experience the effects of traveling at near light speeds. From this perspective, space and time are significantly different from that experienced in everyday life. We explore how students worked with this environment and how they used this experience in their study of specia l relativity. Students found the simulation to be a positive learning experience and described the subject area as being less abstract after its use. Students were more capable of correctly answering concept questions relating to special relativity, and a small but measurable improvement was observed in the final exam.