Immersive experiences like virtual reality for students in chemistry can prove to be a game changer in the way that student chemists visualize the molecular world. In Spring 2021, I taught my Advanced Inorganic Chemistry course in virtual reality (VR) using the Oculus Quest 2 headset on the Engage platform. It is a Senior level course and is usually taken the Spring semester. Developed modules in the Advanced Inorganic Chemistry course, especially the one that was cross-disciplinary increased student interest in chemistry concepts taught in VR. The modules correlated to student learning outcomes with topics focused on VSEPR Theory, Acids and Bases, and Metals in Medicine units. The most engagement from students was seen with the cross-disciplinary lesson in the Metals in Medicine unit where students read text from the book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and fellow English professor, Dr. Tanya Clark who is an expert in afrofuturism gave context to the immortality of Henrietta Lacks the person through the timeline and evolution of her cells in a culturally responsive model of a literary salon. After experiencing the increase in engagement for students in chemistry through the embracing of topics across disciplines, I will delve into reasons for why this cross-disciplinary approach works well for teaching chemistry in virtual reality. In addition, I will discuss the limitations of teaching skill-based laboratory techniques in chemistry and why I chose a problem-based learning approach to teaching these pilot modules. Finally, I will explain how constructing these activities for students in chemistry can lead to them persisting in the major and finding a better sense of self as a scientist. In this virtual world, students are immersed in the setting and seem to have a higher concept of what the molecular world is like using real-world examples and a bit of storytelling.

Exploring the capabilities of using a cross-disciplinary approach to implementing virtual reality in chemistry education

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.