Immersive Learning on Biology Anatomy VR. AR. Immersive Learning 0000-01 Biology Anatomy Tech

Sim Chze Huang 0349557 The Design School @ Taylor’s University Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Design Research Dissertation (DIS60304) Bachelor of Creative Media August 2021 20 November 2022

Acknowledgements. In the making of a dissertation, a lot of individuals were needed in order to construct a complete research. First of all, I want to thank Dr Noorhayati, the lecturer that guides me through the progress of the dissertation. Her valuable suggestions and advice were extremely helpful many times. Her guidance is what help me finish this research, and thus, should be acknowledged with the utmost sincerity. Secondly, the 82 participants that responded to the survey as well as the 4 secondary students that willingly participate in the interview. Only with their time and effort, I can make this dissertation complete. i

Abstract. Virtual reality (VR) promises to be a valuable tool for biology anatomy education. Immersive learning allows the anatomical sites to be learned dynamically in three dimensional ( 3D) virtual environment. Yet, it has not been sufficient research to prove immersive learning is more effective than conventional textbook learning. As the pandemic hits, biology anatomy education has to be conducted digitally where a lot of students face difficulty learning. This research, therefore, investigates the need of immersive learning in biology anatomy with an extension of knowing if immersive learning is suitable to be used in other subjects. This research conducted a mixed methods approach, consisting an online survey and an online interview. Based on this, a total 82 participants responded to the survey and 4 individuals were interviewed. The need of immersive learning is not demanding. Out of 82 individuals, 63 (76.8%) choose conventional textbooks for their studies, whereas 19 (23.2%) choose immersive learning. Immersive learning is only suitable to be used in visually focused subjects like geography but not language-focused subjects. ii

Contents. 01. 02. Introduction Problem Statement Research Theme Research Problem Research Objectives Research Question Conceptual Framework Literature Review The Problem Faced when Studying Anatomy What is Immersive Learning Immersive Learning vs. Conventional Textbook Acceptance of Immersive Learning. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 1 2 3 3 3 3 4 6 7 8 9 11

03. 04. 05. Methodology Online Survey Research Locale Research Instruments Data Gathering Procedures Statistical Treatment Limitations Online Interviews Research Locale Research Instruments Data Gathering Procedures Data Analysis Limitations Findings and Analysis Survey Findings and Analysis Survey Online Interview Findings and Analysis Discussion The effectiveness of an immersive learning on biology anatomy compared to conventional textbooks The needs of immersive learning in biology anatomy Other than biology, Is immersive learning beneficial when used in the teaching of other subjects? The acceptance of immersive learning in Malaysia 3.0 3.1 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1.4 3.1.5 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 3.2.4 3.2.5 4.0 4.1 4.1.1 4.2 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 13 14 14 15 20 21 21 22 22 23 24 25 25 26 27 27 37 47 50 52 54 56 iii

06. 07. 08. Project Design Recommendations 6.0 Conclusion 59 7.0 62 8.0 References 65

09. Appendices Questionaire Interview 9.0 67 67 73 iv

1.0 Introduction. Future technology will take learning to a new level, allowing for more interaction. Because of this, immersive learning will be very important in education. These immersive learning platforms can bring two-dimensional materials into three-dimensional space, breaking the 2D boundaries and providing students with an immersive experience. These immersive experiences are important for teaching, particularly in the medical industry. The advancement of technology has considerably improved people’s lives. Virtual reality environments have been in the industry for quite some time. The problem statement is the lack of immersiveness in the biology anatomy education system. VR Immersive learning is said to help solve problems. Today, school is gradually incorporating Immersive learning technology into the classroom to create a more efficient learning environment. This technology brings lessons to life by transforming instructional content into a real-world setting with which students can interact. To find out how successful immersive learning is in education, particularly in biology anatomy, There are five articles about immersive learning in biology or education in the literature review. Because biology is part of education and finding a total of 5 articles all about biology is difficult, the researchers chose to accept educational-related material. One article is about biology, and the other four are about education. To understand immersive learning better, after evaluating the problem statements, which is the challenges faced when learning biology anatomy, the researchers decided to research on the need of immersive learning in biology anatomy and an extension of the usage of immersive learning in other subjects. This research used mixed methods to achieve the research objective. The general strategy in this research is sequential mixed methods. When using sequential mixed methods processes, the researcher aims to build upon or expand upon the results of one method with another. (Creswell, 2009) 01

1.1 Problem Statement. Learning in 2022 should be enjoyable and beneficial. The year 2022 will be a difficult one for both students and lecturers. The epidemic has had a significant impact on the public education system. Transition, on the other hand, leads to revolution. Online learning has shown considerable promise. Future technology will take learning to a new level, allowing for more interaction. Since it is successful, so-called immersive learning will greatly help education. These immersive learning platforms will bring two-dimensional resources into three-dimensional space, breaking the 2D boundaries and providing students with an immersive experience. These immersive experiences are critical for teaching, particularly in the medical industry. 02

1.2 1.4 1.3 1.5 UI/ UX The lack of immersiveness in the process of education 1. Is immersive learning an effective teaching method for biology anatomy education learning environment? 2. Other than biology, is immersive learning beneficial when used in the teaching of other subjects? 1. To understand the needs of immersive learning on biology anatomy education. 2. To know if immersive learning is suitable to be used in other subjects. Research Theme Research Objectives Research Problem Research Question 03

Biology Anatomy Education Immersive Learning Conventional Learning Student’s Choice Problem Faced 1.6 Conceptual Framework 04

Acceptance Technical Issue Visual Experience Usefulness Application on Other Subjects Motivation 05

2.0 Literature Review. To find out how successful immersive learning is in education, particularly in biology anatomy, which is a medical domain. I reviewed five articles about immersive learning in biology or education. Considering biology is part of education and obtaining a total of 5 articles everything about biology is challenging, I chose to accept educationally related material. One article seems to be about biology, while the remaining four are always about general education. 06

2.1 The Problem Faced when Studying Anatomy. Biology anatomy knowledge is crucial in order to understand the physiological mechanisms of a human structure, resulting in anatomy becoming one of the most important parts of medical education (Lightart, 2020). Normally, anatomy is studied using a variety of traditional methods, lab dissertation has been the goto method for decades. Even though this method is said to be both effective and simple, there were still a lot of limitations, namely the time and cost inherent to this way of teaching (Wu et al. , 2002). In addition, students that are undergoing their first ever encounter with the structure (e.g. dissection), may cause confusion due to the lack of proper grouping since everything is in blood red (Pletz, 2021). Converting this knowledge into electronics is a very good solution to these limitations. This is where Immersive Learning came in. The definition of the word immersive learning is undergoing the learning process within a virtual learning environment. 07

2.2 What is Immersive Learning? Immersive Learning can produce realistic learning materials in situations that are not easily accessible to the learners (Wu et al., 2002),. For instance, micro and macro phenomena, inner parts of the human body like blood cells and the outer space solar system, are too big or too small to observe in the physical world (Wu et al. , 2002). Immersive learning can be presented in a lot of instruments. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are the two of those that are commonly seen(Lightart, 2020). Both of these methods can produce a three-dimensional prototype that helps students imagine the cells in consciousness. Proper usage of 3D holograms in virtual reality can help with a better understanding of difficult anatomy topics compared with traditional teaching methods (Wu et al., 2002). Contrary to VR, Augmented Reality provides better user experiences by effectively reducing the occurrences of motion sickness and still allows real-life interaction between students and teachers while sacrificing a certain amount of immersiveness (Lightart, 2020). Previous studies stated for anatomy education, AR is a promising tool to help with the learning process (Lightart, 2020). 08

2.3 Immersive Learning vs. Conventional Textbook. In-depth virtual or augmented reality technology teaching method vs Conventional Textbook, what are the differences? Immersive Learning with virtual reality or augmented reality and related technologies all study materials to be projected in the surrounding of the learners unlike traditional materials such as books. In the virtual learning environment, the learning materials is no longer bound to the laws of physics allowing it to be shown in any way possible to maximize the learning performance of a student. For instance, neuroanatomy, a visually and spatially complicated title, proved to be hard to digest when learning using a book, as learners are restricted by the 2D images of anatomical structures like neuro vines.(de Back et al. , 2020) In-depth virtual or augmented reality technology teaching method vs Traditional Textbook, which is more effective? A traditional textbook is restricted by two-dimensional graphics (de Back et al. , 2020). Real anatomical models do not have this restriction, however, the details of studies that cannot be enlarged for inspection and the infinite amount of crossover parts has been a very huge hassle for medical students (Lightart, 2020). These restrictions can be removed with the proper uses 09

of Immersive learning technologies and may even offer more interactive and tailored, learner-centered education methods.(de Back et al. , 2020). That is said, few research studies have investigated the differences in terms of learning outcomes and benefits comparing Immersive learning and conventional study methods. 10

2.4 Acceptance of Immersive Learning. Immersive learning usage is associated with endless possibilities, not only in Biology and Anatomy. Immersive Learning is also being used in industrial cooperation for training and educational purposes. (Pletz, 2021). In education, subjects like Biology and anatomy welcome Immersive Learning due to its interactiveness (Lightart, 2020). In industrial training, Immersive Learning provides the features to conduct test runs for beginners without the presence of physical machinery and reduce the risk due to errors (Pletz, 2021). These whole lot of advantages lead immersive learning to be seen and accepted in a lot of organizations. However, the use of technology does not automatically correlate with its availability, there are some certain groups of people who may reject the technology. Plezt (2021), investigated the acceptance of Immersive learning in the technical domain. According to the research, ease of use and usefulness influence the acceptance of Immersive learning. This means Immersive Learning technology is still in the developing process where it may prove to be not mature enough for academic use. This has provided an even more crucial reason to conduct research. 11

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3.0 Methodology. The objective of this research is to understand the need of immersive learning on biology anatomy education and to know if the needs of immersive learning on biology anatomy is applicable to other subjects. This research used mixed methods to achieve the research objective. The general strategy in this research is sequential mixed methods. When using sequential mixed methods processes, the researcher aims to build upon or expand upon the results of one method with another. (Creswell, 2009) Firstly, a quantitative approach is taken to achieve both objectives. The online survey was done by the researchers to understand the need of immersive learning on biology anatomy according to secondary students’ replies. This online survey is designed for secondary students and the question is written based on a visual comparison between immersive learning and traditional textbooks. Their response is collected through Google Forms and then reviewed and calculated after the respondents reached over 80 persons. Secondly, a qualitative approach is taken to achieve both objectives. Online interviews were done with the volunteer participants from the online survey sessions. Prior to this qualitative interview, four secondary students were asked about their views and experience on immersive learning. Questions are prepared beforehand and private sessions are done through WhatsApp. Their answers were recorded and reviewed carefully after the sessions. 13

3.1 Online Survey. 3.1.1 Research Locale. Survey is needed to see a clear picture of the total research questions. From a big picture, we find what problem immersive learning is really facing and what people’s view on it is. Overall, it is to narrow down the topic to what is crucial. By examining a sample of a population, survey research offers a quantitative or numerical depiction of the trends, attitudes, or opinions of that population(Creswell, 2009). Survey is conducted fully online. Google Forms are utilized in this quantitative survey since it’s efficient and easy to access. Google Forms allow users to insert pictures in the question sheet which is very crucial in this online survey. Data collection will be going on for two weeks or until the respondents go over 80 people. The questionnaire will still be around for further investigation but the results will be based on the first dateline. 14

3.1.2 Research Instruments. The survey is conducted fully online. The survey has two sections, section 1 is the qualifying section and section 2 is the data collecting section. Section 1 consists of 4 basic questions to eliminate unsuitable participants. Section 2 consists of 9 questions, including a pair of pictures for comparison purposes. Following are the question and option that will be used in the survey. Section 01. 01 02 03 04 Are you a secondary student that is taking biology classes? Are you studying in a local school (Malaysia)? Have you experienced Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) before? If yes, can you please leave your contact information (any) for further interviews, it’s going to be a short 5-10 minutes interview. yes yes yes no no no 15

Section 02. 01 02 From the scale of 1 to 5, how familiar are you with the existence of Immersive Learning? From a scale of 1 to 5, how hard do you find studying biology to be? Comparing the two figures above, which do you think is better for learners? Figure 3.1, Conventional textbook visual Figure 3.2, Immersive learning visual 1, not familiar 1, easy 5, familiar 5, hard 16

03 04 05 06 In terms of visual experience (the colors, the art style, etc.), which is better? Conventional Textbook or Immersive Learning Conventional Textbook or Immersive Learning Conventional Textbook or Immersive Learning Conventional Textbook or Immersive Learning In terms of usefulness (the data, the details, etc.), which is better? In terms of motivation (which visual is more likely to motivate you into the study), which is better? In terms of results(which visual is more likely to help you understand better, and study faster), which is better? 17

07 08 09 After evaluating, which learning method do you prefer? Why? Conventional Textbook or Immersive Learning What other subject do you think can use immersive learning as the teaching method? Do you think immersive learning is suitable for all subjects? Why? 18

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3.1.4 Data Gathering Procedures. Data gathering goes on for two weeks. It is distributed among the target class itself. Selected class students have to answer the questionnaire provided online in Google forms. Data collected will be checked and organized after the process. 20

3.1.5 Statistical Treatment. 3.1.6 Limitations. To analyze the data, the analyst in Google Forms itself is used, and some of the data is converted to Google Sheets for a better reading experience to ease the process. Survey is done online and in a very short period of time. Therefore, the process needed to be quick and it is hard to get people to answer a questionnaire. Luckily, the researchers managed to find some students in the end. 21

3.2 Online Interviews. 3.2.1 Research Locale. Qualitative interviews give a clear insight for researchers to understand the research objective better with an in-depth review ( Harris et al., 2019). In this section, more critical research is done on the interviewers to know better the research question. Interviewers are selected from phase 1 online survey. In that survey, some that have experienced virtual technology have asked or volunteered to participate in this online interview. A total of 4 respondents will be chosen in this online interview. 22

3.2.2 Research Instruments. A total of 3 questions is designed in this online interview. In order to keep the interview’s subject in focus, the researchers decided to keep the questions as little as possible with sufficient data. Following are the question and option that will be used in the survey. Questions. 01 02 03 What type of virtual reality have you tried before, how was the experience? If you were to study biology anatomy with immersive learning, which is bringing the experience into the learning process, how would you feel, do you think it will help with the subject or any particular problems you are facing? Therefore, do you think there is a need for immersive learning in Biology Anatomy? If yes, as a primary teaching method or just a secondary assisting method? 23

3.2.3 Data Gathering Procedures. The interview is done online. First, the interviewers will be chosen through the survey. The researchers will contact the selected interviewers through Whatsapp with the phone number left by the interviewers. Then a short introduction is done and a brief of interviews will be conducted. Interviewers are free to choose how they want to conduct the interview, whether it is by typing or voice call. During the process, the chat will be recorded and soon be analyzed at the end of the process. 24

3.2.4 Data Analysis. 3.2.5 Limitations. The responses will be written in a sheet with the Matrix form of writing.The reason why the researchers used matrix is, take problem-solving as an illustration. You don’t always know the answer when you first start working on a problem. However, you may picture the solution to the issue being typed out on a page. Then you can use the same density matrix to reorganize your thinking and extract hard-to-reach but already present relevant information from your brain.(Shynkarenka, 2020) All four responses of interviewers will be compared and contrasted at the data analysis process. It is important to keep the interviewers in focus during the process, researchers tend to keep the question short and less. The amount of questions is kept to three, this has limited the versatileness of the research topic. 25

4.0 Findings and Analysis. This is research about Immersive Learning in Biology Anatomy with an extension of the use of Immersive Learning in other subjects. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are conducted in this research. This section presents the results and analysis of the mixed methods and are presented in two parts. First, the results and analysis for the online survey. The online survey is presented in an extended general overview of results with the following analysis. Secondly, the results and analysis of the online interview. The interview will be transcripted, transcripted the results will be analysed and then written in a paragraph. 26

4.1 Survey Findings and Analysis. 4.1.1 Survey. The responses will be written in a sheet with the Matrix form of writing.The reason why the researchers used matrix is, take problem-solving as an illustration. You don’t always know the answer when you first start working on a problem. However, you may picture the solution to the issue being typed out on a page. Then you can use the same density matrix to reorganize your thinking and extract hard-to-reach but already present relevant information from your brain.(Shynkarenka, 2020) All four responses of interviewers will be compared and As described in section 3.1, the survey is conducted in two sections, the first is section 1 which consists of qualifying questions and the second is the main data collecting section which has 9 questions to answer. Similarly, the findings and analysis will follow the sequence and also be having two sections. 27

01 02 03 Are you a secondary student that is taking biology classes? In total, 82 people took part in this study. The majority of them are juniors that researchers discovered attending SM Hin Hua as students (UEC). Every participant is a science stream student in the age range of 16 to 18 taking biology anatomy classes. Figure 4.1, Survey questions - qualifying questions 1 Figure 4.2, Survey questions - qualifying questions 2 Figure 4.3, Survey questions - qualifying questions 3 Yes Yes Yes No No No Are you studying in a local school (Malaysia)? Have you experienced Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) before? 67(81.7%) of the p a r t i c i p a n t s have not experienced VR or AR before and 15 (18.3%) have experienced VR or AR before. This outcome demonstrated how new and uncommon virtual technology is among these individuals. 28

01 02 Value 1 is unfamiliar, whereas value 5 is familiar. Out of 82 participants, 56 are unaware that immersive learning exists. This finding demonstrated how unfamiliar secondary school pupils are with the idea of immersive learning. 1 indicates simplicity, and 5 indicates very difficult. Biology is difficult for 74 out of 82 participants. This demonstrated how challenging biology was for these secondary-school students. Figure 4.4, Survey Question 1 - Graph of familiarity for immersive learning Figure 4.5, Survey Question 2 - Chart of biology difficulty 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 From the scale of 1 to 5, how familiar are you with the existence of Immersive Learning? From a scale of 1 to 5, how hard do you find studying biology to be? 29

03 04 Figure 4.6, Survey Question 3 - Visual Experience Figure 4.7, Survey Question 4- Usefulness Conventional Textbook Conventional Textbook Immersive Learning Immersive Learning The majority of respondents (50, or 61%) decided that immersive learning offers a superior visual experience than a traditional textbook after comparing the two. Voting results suggest that immersive learning is more aesthetically pleasing, with 22% more votes than traditional textbooks. The majority of respondents ( 60, or 73.2%) felt that a traditional textbook is more practical. The fact that conventional textbooks received 46.4% more votes than immersive learning demonstrates that they give pupils the more in-depth information or knowledge they require. In terms of visual experience (the colors, the art style, etc.), which is better? In terms of usefulness (the data, the details, etc.), which is better? 30

05 06 Value 1 is unfamil - iar, whereas value 5 is familiar. Out of 82 participants, 56 are unaware that immersive learning ex - ists. This finding demonstrated how unfamiliar secondary school pupils are with the idea of immersive learning. 1 indicates simplicity, and 5 indicates very difficult. Biology is difficult for 74 out of 82 participants. This demonstrat - ed how chal - lenging biology was for these secondary-school students. Figure 4.8, Survey Ques - tion 5- Motivation Figure 4.9, Survey Ques - tion 6- Overall result Conventional Textbook Conventional Textbook Immersive Learning Immersive Learning In terms of moti - vation (which vi - sual is more likely to motivate you into the study), which is better? In terms of re - sults(which visual is more likely to help you under - stand better) which is better? 31

_ Figure 4.10, Survey Question 6- Overall result Conventional Textbook Immersive Learning Combining all the terms from the previous question, conventional learning received 54% of the votes, while immersive learning received 46%. 32

07 Out of 82 individuals, 63 (76.8%) like conventional textbooks for their studies, whereas 19 (23.2%) favor immersive learning. Immersive learning is outperformed by conventional textbooks by 53.6%, demonstrating that pupils still favor the traditional teaching methodology. This shows that when a student is picking a preferred learning technique, the effectiveness and results of a teaching approach are more important. This can be due to students’ perceptions that studying for exams is more important than enjoying themselves in a more immersive environment. Figure 4.11, Survey Question 7- Preference Conventional Textbook Immersive Learning After evaluating, which learning method do you prefer? Why? 33

The first reason why pupils choose traditional textbooks is the visual. Students may quickly memorise the information because it is orderly, organised, and clear in the graphic. The second issue is that students are accustomed to traditional textbooks and are afraid to try a new approach that can have an impact on their exam scores. A tiny percentage of people prefer immersive learning due to the necessity for technological adaptation, and some claim that images help them understand information better. Some also provide justifications for why they oppose immersive learning, such as the possibility that pupils would find it difficult to concentrate in a virtual reality setting. Some people claimed that using the limited time in school to set up gadgets is difficult. Some people questioned the effectiveness of the immersive learning resources supplied by Malaysian publishers. 34

08 This question revealed what participants believed about the potential applications of immersive learning outside of biology. Geographic had the most votes with 67 (81.7%), history came in second with 33 (40.2%), mathematics came in third with 25 (30.5%), physics came in fourth with 12 (14%) and chemistry came in fifth with 7 (8.5%). Participants can add topics from physics, chemistry, the arts, and sports. something distinguishes them personally. English, Chinese, and Malay ,all receive fewer than five votes overall. Immersive learning is significantly less likely to be appropriate for language or grammar-related subjects. Immersive learning is more likely to be appropriate for subjects that require visuals. Figure 4.12, Survey Question 8- Other subjects that can use immersive learning What other subject do you think can use immersive learning as the teaching method? Maths English History Geographic Malay Chinese Chemistry Physic Arts Sports 35

For the reasoning portion, many of the participants believed that since immersive learning focuses on the visual teaching approach, it is not appropriate for all courses. This included language-focused subjects like English and Chinese. Participants who concurred that immersive learning is suitable for all topics provide justification that places more emphasis on the learning environment than the teaching approach, making immersive learning appropriate for all subjects if the learning environment is the only factor. Overall, the findings showed that not all subjects are suitable for immersive learning. 09 This outcome revealed that 64 (or 78%) respondents indicated that immersive learning was not suitable for all subjects. 18 people (22%) claimed that all subjects are suited for immersive learning. Figure 4.13, Survey Question 9- Is all subject can use immersive learning? Yes No In terms of motivation (which visual is more likely to motivate you into the study), which is better? 36

4.2 Online Interview Findings and Analysis. Results from phase 1 demonstrate that compared to traditional textbooks, immersive learning requirements are not demanding. The purpose of the next interview is to ascertain whether it can be utilised as a secondary assisting teaching strategy. 37