Density

Training students in basic concepts of physics (such as the ones related to mass, volume, or density) is much more complicated than just stating the underlying definitions and laws. One of the reasons for this is that most students have deeply rooted delusions and misconceptions about the behaviour of objects, sometimes close to magical thinking. I focus on using Virtual Reality (VR) in the learning process. More specifically, this game investigates how to harness the combined possibilities of virtual reality and serious games in order to convey knowledge around the concept of density.

I compared the effectiveness of a serious game in teaching the concept of density in various conditions: a 2D version in an embedded web browser and a 3D immersive game in VR. I also developed a specific questionnaire to assess students’ knowledge improvement. Results show an increase in learning efficiency using VR. Also, most students were able to acknowledge the shortcomings of their initial theories and revise them, which means that they improved their understanding of the topic at hand.