2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

While Virtual Reality (VR) has the potential to offer immersive, practical simulations that mirror real-world workplace scenarios, its limited accessibility poses significant barriers in higher education. High costs, technical infrastructure requirements, and the need for specialized equipment make VR less feasible for widespread use in university settings. As a result, the disparity in access hinders its widespread adoption, especially for students from under-resourced institutions.

To address this accessibility gap, the teaching team implemented a three-week module using 20 borrowed Quest 1 VR headsets. During the module, students explored and reflected upon the challenges of VR adoption in education. Each week focused on a different learning topic. In Week One, students explored the Iceberg Model, followed by Creativity and Innovation in Immersive Technology in Week Two. In Week Three, the module concluded with Gamification for Increased Quality and Productivity. Students received traditional PowerPoint lectures and immersive VR experiences for each topic, enabling them to reflect on and compare the different learning modalities.

At the end of the module, students completed a retrospective post-then-pre (RPT) assessment to measure learning gains, comfort, and preference for VR as a classroom tool. Statistical analysis using t-tests showed positive learning gains in all items. This suggests the VR module was beneficial in showing students first-hand how VR works, learning applications for VR, and workforce applications for VR.

While traditional face-to-face instruction remains a cornerstone of educational practice, VR is emerging as a transformative tool with the potential to benefit students and educators significantly. The paper concludes with lessons learned and additional instructional resources for educators, both with and without access to VR technology.