Learning principles of electricity through experiencing in virtual worlds

Abstract

This paper describes an approach for to make available different experiences for learning using a 3D immersive world called AVATAR. It is based on a case study aimed to create virtual laboratories to assist in science learning and teaching. AVATAR has been designed for following the experiential learning and other relevant educational theories, initially focused on electricity basic principles. In order to validate this approach, a group of 32 users experienced the laboratories and answered a questionnaire aimed at assessing the affordances of these immersive environments. The analysis of the questionnaire answers has provided consistent results that will assist in the improvement and development of new experiments in the virtual world.