Lessons learned from implementing virtual reality in an introductory engineering course

In this paper, the research team will discuss the lessons learned from the design of a new Introduction to Engineering course at two California institutions: a community college, and a university. The design of the course focused on engaging students with innovative technology and empowering students to develop technology-based engineering solutions for their semester project. The goal of this paper is for the authors to share their experiences in 1) designing VR-infused activities and design challenges for their courses, 2) developing two VR-ready classrooms, and 3) implementing virtual reality (VR) in their classroom environments. The design of the class was focused on the adoption of group-based problem-solving, educational games, and VR activities to enhance the learning of the students. The course not only focused on implementing such technology for the students to use as a learning tool but also engaged the students in developing new technology-based activities as part of their semester project.These courses leaned heavily on tools available in the Visualization and Immersion Classroom and the Experiential Reality Laboratory at the university and community college that were developed to support this course work. The authors present the learned lessons to support other instructors that are planning on implementing innovative technology in their courses.