Exploring blending Virtual Reality and traditional lab instruction as a pedagogical tool: early results from teaching PC Assembly

Teaching Personal Computer Maintenance and Assembly (CSC2051) relies heavily on laboratory-based practice, where students assemble and maintain computer hardware. While effective, this approach is resource-intensive, limited in scalability, and offers few opportunities for repeatable practice. Moreover, the requirement for physical machines can be costly for institutions, and not every student is guaranteed equal hands-on experience.<br/>Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) provides a promising alternative by simulating authentic, hands-on experiences in scalable and safe digital environments. The spatial and procedural aspects of hardware assembly align closely with VR’s strengths, enabling one-to-one engagement regardless of class size. Prior studies show VR’s potential for improving spatial reasoning, psychomotor performance, and student engagement, offering learners the chance to actively explore tasks that closely mimic real-world assembly scenarios. This is especially relevant in times when online and autonomous learning are required.<br/>However, VR is not without challenges. While it tends to improve visualization and conceptual connections, its impact on purely theoretical knowledge acquisition has been less conclusive. Additionally, although VR hardware has become more affordable, accessibility and cost remain barriers to large-scale adoption. Successful integration depends on ensuring VR complements, rather than replaces, proven teaching methodologies.<br/>This paper presents a Work-in-Progress study on integrating VR into CSC2051. The aim is to share research design, early insights, and plans for longitudinal data collection.<br/><br/>PURPOSE OR GOAL<br/>The study aims to evaluate whether immersive technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) can address current limitations in teaching hardware-oriented concepts—such as scalability, student engagement, and safe, repeatable practice opportunities. Specifically, it investigates if VR can serve as a suitable alternative or complement to traditional in-lab disassembly and assembly methods in the CSC2051 course. The goal is to determine whether VR learning can equal or exceed conventional approaches in both practical skill development and theoretical knowledge transfer.<br/>