Identifying the Characteristics of Virtual Reality Gamification for Complex Educational Topics
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- This study provides detailed baseline data on students’ perceptions of VR technology integration in medicinal chemistry education based on a large cohort (405 students) of survey responses.
- The large cohort results highlighted the students’ requirements and acceptance of VR serious game applications for learning and teaching.
- In addition, this study materialized the students’ feedback and suggestions in the development of an innovative, proof of concept VR application that may offer an immersive, enjoyable, and user-enticing method of teaching complex information in challenging disciplines such as medicinal chemistry.
- Finally, the paper offers recommendations for future studies based on the results of a preliminary evaluation of the proposed VR application.
2. Related Work
2.1. Current Learning and Teaching Issues in Medicinal Chemistry
2.2. Traditional and Future Educational Modalities
2.3. Virtual Reality (VR) for Education
2.4. Relevant Studies
3. Two-Stage Experiment Structure
4. Experiment Part A: Survey
4.1. Method- Rationale
4.2. Research Objectives
- Explore the instructor teaching methods and the provided source of learning methods used by students at the School of Pharmacy and the evaluation of current learning and teaching method;
- Explore the level of familiarity and use of VR by students;
- Examine students’ perceptions of Virtual Reality as a learning and teaching aid in the medicinal chemistry field.
4.3. Participants
4.4. Instrumentation
4.5. Survey Design
- A.
- Survey Structure
- B.
- Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
4.6. Survey Data Validity
4.7. Sample Analysis
4.8. Cronbach’s Alpha
4.9. Correlation
5. Survey Data Analysis and Discussion
5.1. Current Teaching Modalities and Student Satisfaction
5.2. Student Knowledge of VR Technology
5.3. Students’ Perception of VR as a Teaching Aid
5.4. Exploring VR Teaching Application Options
6. Development of the VR Educational Application
6.1. VR Application Rationale
- Simplified 3D models for functional and interactive visualization to minimize the hardware requirements;
- Smartphone accessibility and 3D/VR provision, thus minimizing hardware requirements;
- Explanatory information for understanding the 3D structure of drug molecules;
- Functional visualization of the 3D structure;
- Simple and fast HCI for the interaction with the 3D structure in space;
- Provision of information for the atoms and the functional groups of the different drug molecules;
- Enhancing the students’ spatial understanding of the molecular structures through VR interactive positioning of the atoms in selected molecular scaffolds;
- Gamification of the above learning activity against Non-Player Characters (NPCs) and their peers;
- Provision of additional material for both pharmacological and SAR information for each drug structure.
6.2. VR Application Design
6.3. Educational Context and Imaginative Visualisation
6.4. Interface Design
6.5. 3D/VR Visualisation
6.6. System Gamification
- First, the system provides a plethora of 3D colored spheres representing different atoms, positioned randomly on a table. The user is requested to build a particular chemical compound by memory within a specific time limit.
- A second scenario was developed to compare the constructed chemical structure to the correct drug chemical structure, with the aim of determining whether the structure is correct.
- A third scenario was designed to be applied in the training session. In this case, the elements’ spheres disappear 60 s following the start of the game.
- The system allows the student to examine, navigate, and review the structure for 60 s in both the play mode and the quiz mode.
- When the time has expired, the spheres representing the atoms disappear and the skeleton of the bonds is displayed.
- The student can start playing by adding atoms to the skeleton to rebuild the molecular structure of the drug.
6.7. System Accessibility and Immersion
7. Experiment Part B: Prototype MedChemVR Application—Preliminary Evaluation
7.1. Participants
7.2. Experiment Instruments
7.3. Experiment Design
- During the quiz mode the scaffolding had no atoms assigned. The student should select the atoms and position them on the structure as originally taught during the play mode.
- The system accept the student’s choices and positioning regardless of the atoms’ color. Once the atoms are positioned and confirmed to be in place, they cannot be changed. The atoms are changeable only in the play mode.
- If any of the atoms are wrongly positioned in the scaffolding, the system informs the student to “Try again!”.
- If all of the atoms are correctly positioned, the system confirms the positive outcome by presenting the message “Success”.
- To reduce the student’s anxiety and replicate similar activities from mainstream games, the student can quit the game at any point, and exit the VR classroom by pointing the cursor of the remote handheld controller at the fire exit door. This action will return the user to the main menu.
8. Evaluation Results, Discussion, Recommendations, and Limitations
- A.
- Evaluation Results
- An index called Q26 (MedChemVR as a learning tool was computed by adding Q13, Q16, Q17, Q18, and Q22 and an index called Q25 (attitude toward MedChemVR) was computed by adding Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8, and Q9 to test the relationships between the two indices. It was calculated to be 0.667 and found to be significant at the 0.01 level.
- The computed correlation of Q25 with variables Q13, Q16, Q17, Q18, and Q22 was highly correlated. To define the relationship between the values, the study calculated Pearson’s r value, which can range from −1 to 1. The negative values indicate a negative linear relationship between the values, whereas 0 specifies no linear relationship, and 1 indicates a perfect positive linear relationship. In this case, the Pearson value ranged within 0.306–0.73, which is desirable and indicates a positive relationship between the values of the question responses. Only Q13, Q16, and Q17 were highly correlated with the other group. In addition, Q13 and Q17 were significant at the 0.01 level, and Q16 was significant at the 0.05 level.
- The computed correlation of Q26 with variables Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8, and Q9 resulted in a Pearson value that ranged between 0.126 and 0.639, in which only Q6 and Q9 were significant at the 0.05 level.
- Additional regression analysis was performed excluding the questions that showed poor correlations.
- The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the five questions (Q13, Q16, Q17, Q18, Q22) together explained any changes in the dependent variable (Q25), where the F-value was 5.362 (>3.84, significant at the 0.01 level). Furthermore, Q25 was affected by the independent variables (Q6 and Q9), where the F value was 12.433, significant at the 0.001 level. Their t-value was above 1.97.
- B.
- Discussion and Recommendations
- This study provided detailed and substantive baseline data on students’ perceptions of VR technology integration in medicinal chemistry education. However, the experiment should be performed in other courses that contain complex and multidisciplinary modules.
- Conducting qualitative interviews with a larger sample of students will enrich the outcome of further studies by providing in-depth insights on best practices for VR technology integration.
- A similar study should be conducted to evaluate faculty members’ attitudes and perceptions of VR technology as a teaching medium.
- Further research needs to be conducted to determine the strategies for providing faculty members with effective training and professional development.
- Student outcomes in learning using the MedChemVR game versus traditional methods should be assessed.
- Evaluation by pharmacy students covering several aspects should be conducted to ensure usability and enjoyability.
- Measurement of the impact of this game on the achievement of students in their exams would be useful for system optimization and refinement.
- Students should be educated about technologies in learning and teaching activities via seminars and hands-on training.
- Capacity building is needed to transform the ordinary classroom into a VR medium and to train staff on the use of technology in the classroom.
- Student awareness should be increased regarding the use of technology and its impact on learning, and the amount and quality of the knowledge gained, which will be reflected in their grades and achievements.
- The awareness among the teaching staff of technology integration into education should be increased via staff emails, learning management systems, seminars, and posters
- C.
- Limitations
9. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Valid | Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|
Male | 53 | 13.1 | 13.1 | 13.1 |
Female | 352 | 86.9 | 86.9 | 100.0 |
Total | 405 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Valid | Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|
18–22 | 16 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
22–24 | 372 | 91.9 | 91.9 | 95.8 |
>24 | 17 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 100.0 |
Total | 405 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Valid | Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pharmacy | 236 | 58.3 | 58.3 | 58.3 |
PharmacyD | 169 | 41.7 | 41.7 | 100.0 |
Total | 405 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Valid | Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
4 | 41 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 |
5 | 354 | 87.4 | 87.4 | 87.4 |
6 | 9 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 100.0 |
Total | 405 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
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Reference | Subject | Users | Contributions |
---|---|---|---|
[42] (Georgiou et al., 2007) | VR simulation of chemical experiments | N/A |
|
[43] (Limniou et al., 2008) | VR 3D structure of chemicals compared to 2D animation | 14 |
|
[44] (Herga et al., 2015) | 3D visualization of virtual laboratory and basic in chemistry education—primary level | 109 |
|
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|
[46] (Smith & Friel, 2021) | AR medicinal chemistry education | 250–300 |
|
Demographic Questions | |
---|---|
Q1. | What is your gender? □ Female □ Male |
Q2. | What age group are you in? □ <18 □ 18–20 □ 22–24 □ >24 |
Q3. | Which Pharmacy programme are you in? □ Pharmacy □ PharmD |
Q4. | Your academic year is: □1 □ 2 □ 3 □ 4 □ 5 □ 6 |
Education Traditional Modalities By Using Traditional Modalities for Education (Powerpoint Slides, Pictures, Other) Please Answer the Following Questions. Please Answer the Following Questions Where: (1) Strongly Disagree, (2) Disagree, (3) Moderate, (4) Agree, (5) Strongly Agree | |
---|---|
Q5. | The instructors can give each student a chance for practice. |
Q6. | The instructors can give students centred communication skills. |
Q7. | The instructors are often busy to respond to student needs. |
Q8. | The period of explaining the models in the lecture is sufficient. |
Q9. | I cannot depend only on using traditional ways of teaching as I use other technologies to enhance learnability (such as YouTube, mobile applications which describe the structures in better ways) |
Q10. | Instructor-led class teaching gives more confidence to the students than using alternative technologies. |
Q11. | Traditional ways of teaching are boring and I get distracted during the lecture. |
Q12. | Drug chemical structures are difficult to understand and memorise using current ways of teaching. |
Q13. | I think the current learning tools are flexible enough for training. |
Q14. | Understanding the structure-activity relationship (SAR) from the drug chemical structure is easy. |
Q15. | Current teaching method helps me identify drug properties based on chemical structure. |
Q16. | Visualizing and deriving conclusions from a drug’s structure is difficult. |
Q17. | Current teaching methods help me to identify activities and side effects from drug structure. |
Q18. | The concepts of molecular binding and conformation adopted in vivo are difficult to grasp. |
Q19. | I can easily recognise and navigate through the 2D structure of drugs from different perspectives. |
Q20. | I feel well prepared for exams. |
Q21. | The current teaching and learning modalities are enjoyable. |
Using Virtual Reality Questions | |
---|---|
Q23. | I think technology integration into teaching, and learning is very important for students. □ No □ Yes |
Q24. | Using VR will improve the time required to learn the chemical structures in medicinal chemistry. □ Yes □ No |
Attitude toward Technology and VR—General Perspectives For the Following Questions, Please Check the Answer That Relates to Your Attitude about Each Statement Using the Rating Scale below Each Question. Some Questions Will Be about Your Attitude toward Technology in General. Other Questions Will Be Specifically about Your Attitude toward Virtual Reality Technology. (1) Strongly Disagree, (2) Disagree, (3) Moderate, (4) Agree, (5) Strongly Agree | |
---|---|
Q24. | I think technology integration into teaching, and learning is very important for students. |
Q25. | Using Virtual Reality will improve the time required to learn the chemical structures in medicinal chemistry. |
Q26. | I believe there are advantages to using virtual reality technology in our course(s). |
Q27. | I believe that virtual world technology provides an immersive learning environment where students can become engaged in learning as we explore the virtual environment. |
Q28. | Using the application of 3D models would be easier for me than traditional methods for learning chemical structures in medicinal chemistry. |
Q29. | Using virtual models is useful for me because it will increase my knowledge as I can see the 3D structure model of the drug from several viewing positions. |
Q30. | The experiment content will help me to better understand and memorize the chemical structure of drugs. |
Q31. | Visualizing and rotating the 2D and 3D structure of a drug is helpful in medicinal chemistry studies. |
Q32. | It would be helpful to incorporate virtual reality as computerized visual aids during medicinal chemistry lectures. |
Q33. | I would consider using virtual reality visual aids to aid my personal studies outside the classroom |
Groups of Questions | N | Min | Max | Mean | Std. Deviation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Traditional Modalities for education (Q5–Q21) | 405 | 1 | 5 | 3.2 | 0.43 |
2. | Attitude toward technology and VR (Q24–Q33) | 405 | 1 | 2 | 1.4 | 0.35 |
3. | Using VR (Q22–Q23) | 405 | 1.2 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 0.66 |
Valid N (listwise) | 405 |
Questions | Scale Mean If Item Deleted | Scale Variance If Item Deleted | Corrected Item-Total Correlation | Cronbach’s Alpha If Item Deleted |
---|---|---|---|---|
Q5 | 96.44 | 107.257 | 0.333 | 0.806 |
Q6 | 96.43 | 106.558 | 0.382 | 0.804 |
Q7 | 97.19 | 113.121 | 0.045 | 0.820 |
Q8 | 96.59 | 106.763 | 0.313 | 0.808 |
Q9 | 95.89 | 108.127 | 0.265 | 0.810 |
Q10 | 96.16 | 108.112 | 0.315 | 0.807 |
Q11 | 96.10 | 110.411 | 0.166 | 0.814 |
Q12 | 95.88 | 112.022 | 0.102 | 0.817 |
Q13 | 96.94 | 108.430 | 0.326 | 0.806 |
Q14 | 96.67 | 108.361 | 0.266 | 0.809 |
Q15 | 96.49 | 108.325 | 0.301 | 0.808 |
Q16 | 96.43 | 112.682 | 0.088 | 0.816 |
Q17 | 96.58 | 107.938 | 0.338 | 0.806 |
Q18 | 96.44 | 111.296 | 0.193 | 0.811 |
Q19 | 96.95 | 109.017 | 0.263 | 0.809 |
Q20 | 97.04 | 108.661 | 0.272 | 0.809 |
Q21 | 97.13 | 108.530 | 0.263 | 0.809 |
Q24 | 95.22 | 107.432 | 0.481 | 0.802 |
Q25 | 95.46 | 105.150 | 0.588 | 0.797 |
Q26 | 95.41 | 105.678 | 0.570 | 0.798 |
Q27 | 95.52 | 106.196 | 0.550 | 0.799 |
Q28 | 95.46 | 105.061 | 0.545 | 0.798 |
Q29 | 95.47 | 105.185 | 0.550 | 0.798 |
Q30 | 95.48 | 105.641 | 0.546 | 0.799 |
Q31 | 95.45 | 105.287 | 0.569 | 0.798 |
Q32 | 95.51 | 104.577 | 0.616 | 0.796 |
Q33 | 95.66 | 105.055 | 0.535 | 0.798 |
Q22 | 98.54 | 116.080 | −0.090 | 0.816 |
Q23 | 98.21 | 115.669 | −0.042 | 0.816 |
Valid | Frequency | Percent | VR | Using VR |
---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional | Pearson Correlation | 1 | −0.051 | 0.206 ** |
Sig. (1-tailed) | 0.152 | 0.000 | ||
N | 405 | 405 | 405 | |
VR | Pearson Correlation | −0.051 | 1 | −0.092 * |
Sig. (1-tailed) | 0.152 | 0.032 | ||
N | 405 | 405 | 405 | |
Using VR | Pearson Correlation | 0.206 ** | −0.092 * | 1 |
Sig. (1-tailed) | 0.000 | 0.032 | ||
N | 405 | 405 | 405 |
Questions | Scale Mean If Item Deleted | Min | Max | Mean | Std. Deviation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Q24 | 405 | 1 | 0.333 | 4.52 | 0.750 |
Q25 | 405 | 1 | 0.382 | 4.28 | 0.802 |
Q26 | 405 | 1 | 0.045 | 4.33 | 0.783 |
Q27 | 405 | 1 | 0.313 | 4.22 | 0.767 |
Q28 | 405 | 1 | 0.265 | 4.28 | 0.864 |
Q29 | 405 | 1 | 0.315 | 4.27 | 0.848 |
Q30 | 405 | 1 | 0.166 | 4.26 | 0.816 |
Q31 | 405 | 1 | 0.102 | 4.29 | 0.815 |
Q32 | 405 | 1 | 0.326 | 4.23 | 0.813 |
Q33 | 405 | 1 | 0.266 | 4.08 | 0.880 |
Valid N (listwise) | 405 | 1 | 0.301 |
Please Answer the Following Questions Where: (−2) Strongly Disagree, (−1) Disagree, (0) Moderate, (1) Agree, (2) Strongly Agree | |
---|---|
Q5. | Drug chemical structures are easy to understand and memorise using the MedChemVR game. |
Q6. | I think the MedChemVR learning tool is flexible enough for training. |
Q7. | Understanding the Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) from the drug chemical structure is easy. |
Q8. | Visualizing and deriving conclusions from a drug’s structure is easy. |
Q9. | I can easily recognise and navigate through the 3D structure of drugs from different perspectives. |
Q10. | I feel I will be well prepared for exams. |
Q11. | The MedChemVR game is an enjoyable learning tool |
Q12. | I think MedChemVR game integration into teaching and learning is very important for students. |
Q13. | Using Virtual Reality saves the time required to learn the chemical structures in medicinal chemistry. |
Q14. | I believe there are advantages to using virtual reality technology in our course(s). |
Q15. | I believe that MedChemVR provides an immersive learning environment where students can become engaged in learning as we explore the virtual environment. |
Q16. | Using the application of 3D Models would be easier for me than traditional methods for learning chemical structures in medicinal chemistry |
Q17. | Using virtual models is useful for me because it will increase my knowledge as I can see the 3D structure model of a drug from several viewing positions |
Q18. | The experiment content helps me to better understand and memorize the chemical structure of a drug. |
Q19. | Visualizing and rotating 2D and 3D structures of a drug is helpful in medicinal chemistry studies. |
Q20. | It would be helpful to incorporate virtual reality as computerised visual aids during medicinal chemistry lectures |
Q21. | I think my academic achievement will be enhanced by embedding MedChemVR as a learning tool. |
Q22. | I would consider using virtual reality visual aids to aid my personal studies outside the classroom. |
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Falah, J.; Wedyan, M.; Alfalah, S.F.M.; Abu-Tarboush, M.; Al-Jakheem, A.; Al-Faraneh, M.; Abuhammad, A.; Charissis, V. Identifying the Characteristics of Virtual Reality Gamification for Complex Educational Topics. Multimodal Technol. Interact. 2021, 5, 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti5090053
Falah J, Wedyan M, Alfalah SFM, Abu-Tarboush M, Al-Jakheem A, Al-Faraneh M, Abuhammad A, Charissis V. Identifying the Characteristics of Virtual Reality Gamification for Complex Educational Topics. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction. 2021; 5(9):53. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti5090053
Chicago/Turabian StyleFalah, Jannat, Mohammad Wedyan, Salsabeel F. M. Alfalah, Muhannad Abu-Tarboush, Ahmad Al-Jakheem, Muath Al-Faraneh, Areej Abuhammad, and Vassilis Charissis. 2021. "Identifying the Characteristics of Virtual Reality Gamification for Complex Educational Topics" Multimodal Technologies and Interaction 5, no. 9: 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti5090053