For students of Arizona State University’s online biology degree, things have evolved a bit further than a textbook PDF and a few online quizzes. Utilizing a virtual reality headset and controllers, students can enter a virtual biology work space full of information, assignments. This VR experience also features details for an authentic representation of working in a bio lab.
Students don a lab coat, pull out a checklist tablet, and are given tasks around the lab such as determining the functions of certain devices and analyzing specimens under a microscope.
The intent of this project is to give students the required lab time and training they would need to obtain this degree, without actually requiring them to show up at the school in person. The program’s founder, Michael Angilletta, sourced studies that stated people trained in a certain discipline in VR could almost always use that experience in real life, and built his program with the same mindset. 30 students are currently testing the program out, and Angilletta hopes that, if this is successful, it could be applied to other subjects like history.
