Teacher and Student Experiences during First-Trial Chemistry Lessons in Immersive Virtual Reality

Abstract Virtual reality (VR) is becoming increasingly popular and is being implemented across many areas and levels of chemistry education. When planning to incorporate this technology into teaching, several factors must be considered, such as the cost of these devices, the time required to prepare a VR lesson, and the exhaustion they can cause. Is it worth it? A 90 min lesson in Nanome was prepared and tested with 32 students from lower secondary schools (K8) and 59 students from upper secondary schools (K11). Feedback was collected through a short questionnaire completed by students and semistructured interviews conducted with teachers. This paper presents experiences, opinions, and evaluations from 91 students and two teachers regarding their first attempt to implement VR-based teaching and learning at the secondary school level. VR offers exciting potential for school chemistry education by overcoming physical laboratory limitations and enabling interactive, immersive molecular modeling that boosts student motivation. However, successful integration requires dedicated technical and spatial support to help teachers navigate hardware challenges, lesson preparation, and varying student reactions based on students’ ages and prior VR experience. Successful VR integration requires clear learning goals and an initial time investment, but once teachers master the technology, reusable lesson plans make the effort well worth it.