Biology Education: VR Place-Based Learning

Placed-Based Learning (PBL) is about exploring, practicing, experimenting, interacting in a destinated natural or human environment to foster spatial, contextual, and embodied learning. One example of PBL is conducting field trips to a natural ecology to experience what otherwise cannot be fully learned in classrooms or labs.

Biology is one of the many disciplines that need such field trips. However, it often takes much logistical work just to get a large class of students to the field for a limited period of time. This often diminishes learning efficiency and effectiveness. Also, there are other downsides to how field trips are provided in current undergraduate education: safety, accessibility, equity, etc.

This large-scale project (with hundreds of undergraduate participants) investigates how VR can better prepare students for biology field trips.

Other Info:

• Funding Sources:
  - Penn State University's Strategic Plan
  

Figure 1 from the project's publication:

• Wallgrün, Jan Oliver, Jack Shen-Kuen Chang, Jiayan Zhao, Peter Trenham, Pejman Sajjadi, Mark Simpson, and Alexander Klippel. "Place-based education through immersive virtual experiences—preparing biology students for the field." Journal of Biological Education (2022): 1-24. [pub]