STUDENT AND TEACHER ACCEPTANCE OF A VIRTUAL REALITY NUCLEAR SIMULATION LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a virtual reality (VR) simulation of nuclear procedures for educational purposes. We designed the simulation to provide an immersive and interactive experience for university students to learn about nuclear safety and protocol. We conducted a survey to assess the acceptance of the VR simulation by high school teachers and university students. Results indicate that the majority of students found the simulation to be an exciting tool for learning, especially in addition to their existing lab session. Besides some hurdles and concerns (mainly technical and managerial), teachers reported a positive attitude toward using VR in education in terms of ease-of-use, visual appeal and dynamic behaviour, specifically to explain theoretical concepts and to simulate procedures when real-life lab sessions are too hard to acquire.