1. Introduction
Chemical Engineering is one of the broadest of the engineering fields, focused on develo** processes and industries for manufacturing chemicals and compounds. Therefore, it is a highly complex discipline that is mainly applied to the industrial context [
1,
2], which makes it difficult to approach real equipment and systems in the classroom to students of the degree in Chemical Engineering [
3]. Recently, with the increasing advances in technology and the COVID-19 pandemic, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are being widely applied for teaching and for learning purposes [
4,
5,
6], because digital resources are particularly useful to encourage active and autonomous learning, normally associated with deeper levels of engagement and understanding of the subjects taught [
7]. Remarkable examples of digital resources include Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), or Mixed Reality (MR) [
8,
9,
10,
11], which are promising at hel** students to improve their visualization skills in complex subjects, the majority being in application to Chemical Education [
12]. Specifically, VR is a 3D environment in which a user can look around, navigate, and/or interact with virtual objects in an almost natural way [
13]. Taking the advantage of this full immersion, VR educational applications have been proliferating in recent years [
12] and, consequently, they have been steadily gaining momentum in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. Thus, researchers, educators, and industry practitioners tend to design and develop more and more resources that promote experiential and active learning, as opposed to the traditional teacher-centered (passive) approach [
14,
15]. Thereby, numerous studies have demonstrated that immersion has the potential to increase learning experiences [
16] and improve creativity and engagement [
17]. Consequently, an appropriate use of ICTs involves pedagogically and user-oriented practices to satisfy students’ expectations, potential needs, and increase their participation. These requirements can make the development of learning tools time consuming and be demanding in terms of multi-disciplinary knowledge required [
18].
In the context of the development of an immersive environment, 360° media play a key role due to the fact that they offer 360° panoramic images and videos, which can be viewed using a smartphone (via specialized viewer app or via online platforms). Nowadays, there are two main ways to view and navigate 360° media via mobile phone. First, while the video is playing, the viewer can hold their phone up in the air and move it laterally and vertically. Secondly, the viewer can insert the phone into a VR Head-Mounted-Display (HMD), previously activating the VR viewing option on the phone. In this study, we opted for the second way (phone into HMD), given the greater degree of immersion of the viewer, due to a unique image per eye invoking stereoscopic depth perception [
19].
In a pedagogical context, the use of VR videos has a number of benefits, from teachers’ and students’ perspectives [
20]. Thus, VR allows students to move to virtual environments and view VR 360° videos which would hardly be shown with traditional teaching resources. Further, following the novelty and excitement that arises, it may, thereby, generate higher viewer engagement and focus. In addition, mastering these tools in any of the curricular areas of the degrees would facilitate the design of spectacular activities by incorporating, or linking, these interactive materials on the same support materials already used in classes. Finally, the production of virtual laboratory resources, such as tour, training, or skill development, videos is very affordable in terms of staff time and production costs.
Additionally, 360° videos present technical recording benefits compared to conventional recording. Usually, with the 360° camera, one typically does not need to worry if a part of the demonstration is out of the scope of view in the camera frame due to the 360° panoramic field of view is able to capture laboratory procedures without continually moving the camera around. Moreover, the use of 360° cameras would be advantageous because it is independent of an additional camera operator and can be performed solely by the lab instructor [
21].
On the other hand, the drawbacks of 360° videos include simulation sickness, induced by the shaky movements produced when viewing and navigating around the videos. Fortunately, this discomfort can be reduced by mounting the 360° camera at a fixed position or would be resolved by holding the mobile device with both hands or placing the device on a flat surface during viewing. Another potential problem is the loss of focus in 360° videos, that is, the difficulty in finding the right angle of the video at the right time. Improving on this loss of focus is challenging and requires further work. Some studies have reported a remedy by creating a time delay to provide buffer time for the viewer to reorientate themselves at pivotal time points in the video, e.g., when a demonstrator is conducting a critical step in an experimental procedure [
22].
In the framework of this work, we started by searching for open access resources of immersive experiences related to Chemical Engineering, in order to just provide them to the students. Thus, an exhaustive search for available resources or applications of VR, AR, 360° videos, etc., was carried out on the internet, research papers in education and educational projects at other universities. Regrettably, no specific resources on chemical engineering processes were found that suited our teaching purposes. Only some VR and AR specific applications in chemistry were found, and scarce 360° videos of production plants were located [
4,
21,
23].
Hence, we generate immersive resources based on VR with two objectives. First, 360° virtual tour videos (360VTVs) of the laboratories used in teaching and researching in Chemical Engineering subjects were created, in order to disseminate the interest in this discipline to the public. Secondly, an experiential learning tool (ELT) was created, in order to prepare and help the undergraduate students beforehand and complementary to real practical lessons. In addition, this work shows the opinion of students and professors about the developed 360VTV and ELT resources. Thus, in all cases, professors and students who participated in the VR activities were asked to answer a post-survey to collect their feedback in order to assess the VR activities carried out.
Therefore, in the following sections the recording and viewing equipment used are described, as well as the types of recordings and immersive resources based on VR created. Finally, their usefulness is shown and discussed through evaluation and feedback from the participants.
2. Materials and Methods
In this section, the recording and visualization equipment used is described. Moreover, details of the immersive resources created, 360VTV and ELT, are explained. Finally, the process of collecting feedback from the participants is described and the questionnaires included in post-surveys are shown.
2.1. 360° Videos Recording Equipment
Before the selection of the equipment, various alternatives were evaluated through the guidance provided by the Digital Resource Centre of the University of Cádiz. Finally, the videos were produced using a 360° camera One X
® (see
Figure 1a). This cam was mounted over different stands during recordings depending on requirements. Thus, for ELT, several static 360° videos were recorded mounting the camera on a tripod stand (see
Figure 1b) and the operator recording using the fixed camera. However, for 360VTVs, we used the extended selfie stick stand (see
Figure 1c) as a rig to hold (see
Figure 2a) and rotating the camera during recording (see
Figure 2b).
After recording, the videos were subsequently annotated using a video editor (INSTA360 STUDIO2021) and injected with 360° spatial metadata. The edited videos were then published in public YouTube® platform that support 360° viewing.
For the handling of the recording equipment, as well as for the editing and generation of the videos, support was provided by the Digital Resource Centre of the University of Cádiz.
2.2. Virtual HMD
We purchased a Virtual Reality Head-Mounted-Display (VR HMD) for showing to students the 360° videos generated. Considering the different options available on the market we opted for an operation way in which the viewer inserts the smartphone into a HMD, previously activating the VR viewing option on the phone. Specifically, we purchased the virtual HMD SHINECON 3D (
Figure 3) suitable for smartphones and other mobile devices with 4″–6.7″ displays.
2.3. Creation 360VTVs
Two different 360° videos were realized. In the first kind of 360° videos, tour videos were recorded with the purpose of promoting and showing the laboratories used in the teaching of the Degree and Master in Chemical Engineering at the Faculty of Science (University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain). In the second kind of 360° videos, a static video was recorded with a demonstration of a laboratory practice of the Chemical Engineering area.
Regarding the tour videos, first, we proceeded to record a video tour of the pilot plant and teaching laboratories, during the routine of the practical sessions carried out by the students and professors. To make this video more impressive, a drone provided by Drones Service of the University of Cádiz was used. Hence, in the initial part of the video we show, for a few seconds, the aerial view and location of the Faculty of Sciences within the Campus of Puerto Real (University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain), which is located in a privileged natural environment, in the Natural Park of the Bay of Cádiz.
Figure 4 shows some photograms of the 360° video recorded.
Moreover, other videos were recorded in the research laboratory of two research groups: the one named Analysis and Design of Supercritical Fluid Processes and the one named Biological and Enzymatic Reactors, both in the Chemical Engineering and Food Technology Department.
Figure 5 shows some photograms of the 360° video recorded.
Particularly, we share these 360VTV in the Open Doors Day (University Orientation Days, University of Cádiz, course 21/22). This annual event is organized with the purpose of disseminating and promoting the degrees among the students from different high schools in the area, and with the interest to enroll in any of the disciplines offered at the University. In particular, those students potentially interested in Chemical Engineering passed by a stand where a professor of the degree explained different aspects of the discipline and the possibility of carrying out a VR activity. In this activity they could watch a video that allowed them to know the facilities and operations that are used during the practical lessons of the Degree in Chemical Engineering. Subsequently, students interested in this activity went to a second desk where they were given VR HDMs and basic instructions on how to use the device with their personal smartphone, together with the quick response (QR) code of the video (linked to YouTube® platform).
Regarding to the second kind of 360° video generated, static video in a practice laboratory, the professor recorded himself carrying out the practical activity and explaining the methodology step by step, following the same procedure and instruments that are then proposed to the students during the face-to-face lessons.
Figure 6 shows an example of some screenshots of such videos corresponding to the four practical activities recorded: sedimentation, distillation, liquid–liquid extraction, and solid–liquid extraction.
2.4. Experiential Learning Tool (ELT) Based on VR
The subject selected for develo** this tool was Separation Operations, corresponding to the third course of the Degree in Biotechnology (Course 20/21), which is taught by professors of the Chemical Engineering Area. An interface was developed using all-in-one screen recorder, video editor and eLearning authoring software, named ActivePresenter of Atomi Systems (
https://atomisystems.com/activepresenter/) (accessed on 18 August 2022).
Subsequently professors adapted the interface developed and integrated it into Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) commonly used in the subject, Moodle 3.6, via Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM).
An ELT was created for each laboratory activity that the students carry out during real practical lessons of the Separation Operations subject: sedimentation, distillation, liquid–liquid extraction and solid–liquid extraction. Specifically, the ELT was composed of four main components or sections, which were depicted in the homepage, as shown in
Figure 7: theoretical explanation, video of the practice, simulation and 360° VR.
From this homepage, the student could freely navigate through and access any of the four components. The theoretical explanation component contained slideshows with the key concepts involved. The video practice section contained a brief explanation of the professor about fundamentals of the activity (3–5 min approximately). The simulation component included a recreation, in which, an assistant represented by an animation of the professor guides the student step by step through the whole experimental procedure to be carried out, with different images and videos of the material and equipment used the images include a laboratory material checklist and all real numerical data needed for calculations and to obtain the final results requested. Finally, the 360° VR section includes a video, where the professor carries out and explains the practical activity by himself as a described in section above.
Appendix A shows several screenshots as an example of all these components.
Once the material is created, undergraduate students had individual access to the ELT through the MOOC of the subject in advance of the real practical sessions, which were carried out in pairs of students in the conventional way, i.e., face-to-face lessons.
2.5. Students and Professors Feedback: Surveys
To assess the VR activities developed, surveys for participants in this study (students and professors) were conducted. For the elaboration of all surveys, questionnaires used by other studies in the evaluation of resources based on VR in STEM disciplines similar to Chemical Engineering were taken as a guide (Biotechnology, Bioprocess and Biochemical Engineering, among others) [
23,
24]. In addition, a group of professors with extensive teaching experience in Chemical Engineering Area involved in the development of this work, participated in the elaboration of the questions, which were discussed and selected before being presented to the participants. Thus, students, once they had finished viewing the VR activities, 360VTV or ELT, gave their consent to participate in this study and were invited anonymously to answer a survey, in which they are asked about their impressions of the VR resources shown in terms of usefulness, satisfaction, and motivation, among others. As presented in
Table 1 and
Table 2, specific questions were designed for each VR activity with the aim of determining the usefulness of the resources generated as a pedagogical tool and their rating, as well as identifying aspects that could be improved. In all of them, the different types of questions were mixed, and they contemplated various types of answers, such as open-ended, closed-ended, yes/no and rating questions with 5 point-likert level scale. Complementarily, at the end of the questionnaires, the students were asked to voluntarily write any other comments they would like to include freely. In the case of 360VTV, the post-survey was provided on paper, while in the case of ELT, the MOOC was used to host it.
Furthermore, professors from the Chemical Engineering Area involved in the development of this work were invited to answer a survey to know their opinion with the aim to determine their point of view about the VR resources generated in terms of usefulness, improvement and global valuation (
Table 3).
Table 4 shows details of the number, formation of the participants and the resource they were surveyed about.
Finally, the data and answers collected of the post-surveys were analyzed using the software Microsoft® Excel® 2016.
3. Results
In addition to the materials generated, 360VTV and ELT, the main results of this work can be found in the analysis of the responses obtain to post-surveys carried out with the participants after the end of their VR experience. Use of the surveys is one of the methods described and commonly used for the collection of information in VR technology in chemistry and in learning analytics of STEM subject practices in terms of gender, usability, motivation, and attitude, among others [
25].
3.1. 360VTV
As shown in
Figure 8, during Open Door Days celebrated at Faculty of Science (Orientation Days, University of Cádiz, course 21/22,), high school students interested in Chemical Engineering Degree spent several minutes (from 3 to 5 min) watching the 360VTV with the virtual HMDs provided. They were accompanied at all times by professors of the Degree in Chemical Engineering who provided support and additional explanations about the video. Once they had finished the viewing, the participants students (n = 148), were invited to answer the suggested survey (
Table 2). The main results obtained are detailed below.
In order to find out about the students interested in participating in this activity on the Chemical Engineering Degree, they were first asked about their gender and the subject pathway they were studying at the High School. The majority of the participants were women with a total of 61% and students of Science/Technology and Health subjects.
Table 5 summarizes the detailed answers about the subject pathway of the students that participated in this activity.
Nowadays, VR tools are becoming increasingly present in our daily lives; hence, we found it interesting to know if the high school students had previous experience and what their level of satisfaction. The result to this question was 60% had already used this type of VR tool, mainly in leisure, videogames, and films, as shown in
Figure 9. Moreover, 71% of students had already had a positive (4 out of 5) or very positive (5 out of 5) experience in a proposed Likert scale evaluation (see
Figure 10).
Moreover, students were asked about the main reason that motivated them to watch the VR video proposed in this Chemical Engineering activity, to choose among multiple options given. Thus, as shown in
Figure 11, 38% of them were interested by the fact that the video was related to VR activity, followed by 32% who were interested by the information previously provided at the stand. It is remarkable that 22% of the students surveyed came to watch this video due to their previous intention to enroll in the Degree in Chemical Engineering.
Focusing on the questions specifically related to the VR video shown, the response to the yes/no question was unanimously positive when asked if they liked the 360VTV, with 99% of the students answering affirmatively. Moreover, they were asked to rate the quality of the image and sound of the video rating a 5 point Likert-scale, as well as an overall assessment of the VR experience.
Figure 12 shows the average results of these ratings, where it can be seen that the lowest score, 3.5, was for sound rating, while for the other evaluations the average was close to 4 or higher.
As a complementary element for improvement, the students were queried if, during the viewing, they would have preferred hearing an off-voice with an explanation (narrator). The answer was 86% affirmative.
On the other hand, it should be noted that one of the main targets set of this activity was the promotion and enthusiasm of this degree among high school students, finding that 70% of those surveyed after the viewing of the 360VTV increased their interest in the discipline of Chemical Engineering. Furthermore, 98% indicated that they would like to see more VR videos related to other degrees currently offered at the Faculty of Science, such as Chemistry, Biotechnology and Enology.
Finally, we collected student feedback, not only with 5 point Likert-scale or closed questions, but also in the form of freely comments with respect to their experience of visualization of 360VTV with HMDs. From this feedback garnered seven responses, represented just 5% of the participants, being majority very positive. The comments were as follows:
- #1.
“The experience was amazing and I found the 360° VR mode very interesting”
- #2.
“A very fascinating activity”
- #3.
“I liked it”
- #4.
“Thanks”
- #5.
“It was great but I would have liked more diversity and dynamism”
- #6.
“Very good feeling and I found it interesting although the vision was a bit blurred”
- #7.
“Very helpful professors and interesting experience”
3.2. ELT Based on VR
Undergraduates enrolled in Separation Operations subject were able to access individually and previously to the start of the practical lessons to the ELT developed through the MOOC. Afterwards, the students carried out the real practical lessons in groups of pairs, following the established routines in face-to-face.
Several advantages of virtual platforms were found in the ELT created that have been previously reported by other studies [
26,
27,
28]. In this way, students could be able to develop practical laboratory skills by taking advantage of information gathered in ELT. Additionally, an important feature of virtual laboratories is that the learning process can be simplified by highlighting relevant information and avoiding confusing details. Moreover, it is well known that a virtual platform like this also makes the interpretation of certain phenomena easier and collect information or results during shorter time frame as it would take to do in the real experiment.
Once students finished these real laboratory practical lessons, they voluntarily answered a post-survey with the questions included in
Table 2. The questions designed for this questionnaire can be divided in two types. On the one hand, students were asked to rate on a 5 point Likert-scale of diverse statements with the purpose to find out the usefulness of ELT generated (see
Table 2, statements 1 to 4). The average of responses corresponding are represented in
Figure 13 and all ratings were 5 or very close to 5, which mean that students found very helpful this tool.
On the other hand, the second part of the survey was an open-ended set of questions where participants were asked to indicate freely personal aspects of difficulty, assessment and improvement detected during their experience with ELT (see
Table 2, statements 5 to 7). Thus, most of them did not find any difficulties. Only two of them indicated problems with the audio. In addition, none of the participants indicated any possible improvements. Finally, in reference to what they most valued about the ELT developed, the students highlighted and congratulated the work of the professors who made the development of this tool possible through comments where the most repeated words were: great work, enormous effort, and great dedication by the professors. These positive comments represented 56% of the total number of students surveyed, while the rest left no comments on this box.
3.3. Professors Feedback
The feedback collected from the professors involved in this study through the post-survey provided are summarized in
Figure 14 and
Figure 15. On the one hand,
Figure 14 illustrates the degree of agreement or disagreement of the professors with particular statements related to the perception of 360VTV generated. As shown, the perception was very positive due to 100% of the professors surveyed strongly disagreed that the VR resources were of no use. In addition, 85% strongly agreed to use these materials, specifically for Open Doors Day concerning to High Schools or Master’s programs. Consequently, this massive response led to the 360VTV being offered to high school students at the University Orientation Days during the 21/22 academic year. Additionally, none of the professors agreed with the idea of not implementing VR resources in any part of their subjects, with 43% of the professors agreeing and 57% strongly agreeing with this statement.
On the other hand,
Figure 15 shows the average responses about those statements related to the usefulness of the VR as a supporting tool in the learning of the subjects. This way, the evaluation was positive in all cases, obtaining the highest score (above 4) in the assessment as a tool for self-learning and to improve the understanding of parts of equipment. The rating was slightly lower at 3.8, on those issues related to the usefulness of enhancing the motivation of students and the retention of certain concepts.
5. Conclusions
In the case of Chemical Engineering, the limited resources available and the specificity required made necessary the creation and development of own immersive VR-based resources. Specifically, a 360° virtual tour video (360VTV) was created and used as an element of promotion and dissemination of the Chemical Engineering Degree among high school students. The viewing of this VR resource with the HMDs allowed the virtual visit to the pilot plant and laboratories at the Faculty of Sciences during the routine practical lessons. This activity was rated very positively by the high school students through a post-survey, highlighting the average score obtained in the rating overall of this VR resource (4.4 out of 5) and the increased interest in the Chemical Engineering Degree after the activity. In addition, aspects to improve were identified, mainly elements that would expand the information shown to the viewer in different remarkable places of the visit, through a narrator voice or emergent action points (hotspot).
In addition, an immersive experiential learning tool (ELT) was developed with the ActivePresenter software, which was adapted and integrated into the Separation Operations MOOC. In it, undergraduate students, in advance of the face-to-face practical sessions, had access to the 360° virtual video of each practical activity, additional information, explanatory videos of the professor and a simulation step by step of the procedure. The results of the post-survey suggest that the students found it to be a very useful learning tool.
From the perspective of the professors, the resources immersive generated were highly valued as a tool for disseminating and supporting teaching. The development of the virtual reality resources specific required time and effort, mainly in the filming and editing of the 360° videos, as well as in the development of the interface for ELT. This initial work allows us to create tailored versions of the immersive resources with little extra effort.
Additionally, as future lines of work, other possibilities to interact with content shown were detected, such as 3D models that can be manipulated with hand gestures or controllers, or even the development of mini-labs based on VR, which could include tests in order to determine the level of competence achieved by Chemical Engineering students.