Designing Diverse Virtual Reality Laboratories as a Vehicle for Inclusion of Underrepresented Minorities in Organic Chemistry

• Published in: Journal of chemical education 2022-01, Vol.99 (1), p.500-503
• Main Authors: Gallardo-Williams, Maria T, Dunnagan, Cathi L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access to education; Classroom communication; College Faculty; College Science; Colleges & universities; Computer Simulation; Disproportionate Representation; Inclusion; Inclusive education; Laboratories; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority Group Students; Minority Groups; Multicultural education; Organic Chemistry; Science Instruction; Science Laboratories; Self concept; Student Evaluation; Students; Teacher Student Relationship; Teachers; Teaching methods; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00321

Equal access to an instructor’s time and attention can be a barrier experienced by many underrepresented minorities. An instructor’s own biases will determine the nature of their interaction with students, and even well-meaning instructors can interact with students in differential ways, which might prevent certain students from having access to the material in the class. This is an insidious problem, which may or may not be recognized in peer and student evaluations, and an issue that might escape self-reflection even in educators that are committed to diversity and inclusion. This issue conflates both actual and perceived biases, introducing a complex dynamic between instructor and student. Virtual reality (VR) provides an avenue to generate materials that can be used to enhance or replace classroom instruction with a great degree of realism. Our approach at NC State University was to design VR laboratories that were as inclusive and diverse as possible. This encompassed sourcing content and tapping talent from students that represented a broad range of races, gender identities, and ethnicities. These realistic simulations offer the advantage of minimizing instructor bias (since the instructor generates the material in the absence of the students) while offering students that might struggle with the instructor in a personal setting the opportunity to experience the best that the instructor has to offer. Analysis of the data collected in a user study of VR materials created for organic chemistry laboratories offers insights into the way that students interact with VR instructors. Comments provided by underrepresented minority students point to the perceived impartiality of the instructor, ability to engage with the material independently, and remote access as some of the desirable features of the experience.