Virtual Reality as a Teaching Tool for Moon Phases and Beyond

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of virtual reality to teach Moon phases, showing it enhances user engagement but does not significantly change learning outcomes compared to traditional methods.

Contribution

It introduces a VR implementation of a traditional Moon phases activity and compares its effectiveness and user preference with conventional teaching methods.

Findings

Participants preferred VR over traditional methods.

No significant difference in knowledge test scores.

VR increased engagement and immersion.

Abstract

A ball on a stick is a common and simple activity for teaching the phases of the Moon. This activity, like many others in physics and astronomy, gives students a perspective they otherwise could only imagine. For Moon phases, a third person view and control over time allows students to rapidly build a mental model that connects all the moving parts. Computer simulations of many traditional physics and astronomy activities provide new features, controls, or vantage points to enhance learning beyond a hands-on activity. Virtual reality provides the capabilities of computer simulations and embodied cognition experiences through a hands-on activity making it a natural step to improve learning. We recreated the traditional ball-and-stick moon phases activity in virtual reality and compared participant learning using this simulation with using traditional methods. We found a strong participant preference for VR relative to the traditional methods. However, we observed no difference across conditions in average levels of performance on a pre/post knowledge test.