Towards Teaching Secondary School Physics in an Immersive 3D Game Environment

DOI: 10.5176/978-981-08-5480-5_069

Authors: Bill Rogers, Dacre Denny, Jonathan Stichbury

Abstract:

Laboratory exercises are an important part of a secondary school physics class making an important contribution to their learning. Virtual laboratories have the advantage of allowing experiments that might be too dangerous or too costly in the real world. We present Gary’s Lab, an experimental immersive 3D laboratory environment using computer game technology. Our system allows students considerable freedom in constructing apparatus, and running qualitative and quantitative experiments using that apparatus. We argue that the process of constructing experiments in interesting contexts might be expected to help students engage with their lessons, by focusing their attention on the apparatus and the methods of measurement used.