Title: INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF 3D IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGY ON STUDENT INTEREST, MOTIVATION AND PERFORMANCE IN UNDERGRADUATE CHEMISTRY

Abstract: Advancements in virtual reality technology combined with increasing demands to take chemistry out of the traditional lecture hall and laboratory have paved the way for chemical education researchers to investigate the possible benefits of new technology for teaching and learning chemistry. The present study investigated the use of 3D Immersive Virtual Reality (3D IVR) with Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) for teaching chemistry at the introductory undergraduate level. More specifically, the research looked into the effect of 3D IVR HMDs on student interest, motivation and performance in chemistry. The participants were first-year chemistry undergraduate students at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus (The UWI, STA) who volunteered to be a part of the research study (n=120). Study participants were divided equally into two groups (n=60) which were a control group and a test group. The Chemistry Student Interest Questionnaire (C-SIQ), the Chemistry Motivation Questionnaire (CMQ-II), a demographics survey and a post-trial quiz were used. The data collected was analyzed with the use of SPSS. Results showed that there was an overall increase in interest, motivation and performance for the students exposed to the 3D IVR content with the HMDs compared to students exposed to traditional lectures and tutorials only.