A Dive into Immersive Learning: 360-Degree Deer Dissection Videos
Open Access
- Author:
- Johnson, Deana
- Area of Honors:
- Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Adrian A Barragan, Thesis Supervisor
Robert John Vansaun, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- dissection
immersive learning
360 degree video
deer
deer dissection
virtual reality - Abstract:
- Immersive learning technologies are new tools that are starting to be used in education. Virtual reality is one of the newest forms of immersive learning being used in classrooms and labs. These changes in technology are becoming slowly accepted in education. The objective of this study was to assess undergraduate students’ perceptions regarding the use of this new technology for teaching anatomy concepts. Each video was outlined prior to filming. The videos were then filmed at Penn State using multiple cameras and microphones. These cameras allowed for the videos to be developed for virtual reality viewing. Adobe Premiere was used to edit the videos over the span of a few months. Each participant filled out the first half of the survey which focused on their experience with VR prior to watching the videos. They were then asked to view the 360 deer dissection videos developed by the team using the VR headsets. Following the viewing they then filled out the other half of the survey that was broken into two main sections. The first section was broken into four subsections, technology usefulness, ability to learn from videos, overall viewing experience, and how it compares to traditional teaching methods. The second section was open-ended questions about how this tool could be improved and what should stay the same. The data from the surveys showed that in general people liked the idea of utilizing this technology in the classroom, but as a secondary tool, not a main teaching resource. About 78 percent agreed or strongly agreed that this would be a good tool to use along with lectures and to use along with dissections. The open-ended questions showed that students liked the idea of using VR if that meant they could be exposed to different anatomy dissections that would otherwise not be possible. Based on these results it is possible that VR can be implemented into anatomy labs and other classrooms as secondary tools.