Undergraduate lab sessions play a crucial role in building and reinforcing conceptual understanding in STEM education. In third and fourth year higher education, lab sessions can be challenging to incorporate into the curriculum due to cost, safety, or difficulty in realizing abstract concepts. Mixed reality (MR) systems provide a novel solution due to their ability to nurture collaboration and tactile interaction. In this work, an MR system designed for use in chemical kinetics undergraduate curriculum is described. This system combines the principles of student-driven, investigative learning with tactile feedback and simulation-based teaching. A small-scale study was conducted to explore students’ use of a prototype MR system as compared to a traditional “pen-and-paper” cooperative learning activity. Differences in student engagement and learning outcomes were analyzed. Results indicate that students working with MR demonstrated slightly more accurate and nuanced conceptual understandings, conducted faster and more cycles of inquiry, expressed more clarity when articulating thoughts, and engaged in less risk aversion when presenting their ideas as compared to their peers in the control condition.

中文翻译：

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社会和触觉的混合现实增加了学生对本科生实验室活动的参与度

本科实验课程在建立和加强STEM教育中的概念理解方面起着至关重要的作用。在第三和第四年的高等教育中，由于成本，安全性或难以实现抽象概念的原因，将实验课程整合到课程中可能会面临挑战。混合现实（MR）系统具有培育协作和触觉交互的能力，因此提供了一种新颖的解决方案。在这项工作中，描述了设计用于化学动力学本科课程的MR系统。该系统将学生驱动的研究性学习与触觉反馈和基于模拟的教学相结合。与传统的“笔纸式”合作学习活动相比，进行了一项小规模研究，以探索学生对MR系统原型的使用。分析了学生参与度和学习成果方面的差异。结果表明，与MR相比，与MR相比，与MR相比，与MR相比，与MR相比，与MR相比，他们具有更准确，更细微的概念理解，更快速，更多的探究周期，表达清晰的思想以及表达风险的方式。 。