Students’ Perceived Usefulness of Virtual Reality Laboratories

According to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the perceived usefulness of a technology is a significant predictor of behavioral intention to use and actual usage. Drawing on this theory, we investigate the perceived usefulness of virtual laboratories in understanding factors that have the potential to influence their acceptance as a learning technology within the biomedical engineering curriculum. The study focuses on exploring learners’ perceptions of the utility value i.e. perceived usefulness of virtual reality laboratories. While existing studies have focused on integrating single laboratories into classroom experiences, our study further integrates a series of laboratories to enhance the learning experience. As virtual laboratories go beyond the limitations of physical laboratories, we explore their potential for integration at multiple points in the semester and investigate learners’ perceptions of their usefulness for their learning. We adopt a multi-method approach in which we use both quantitative and qualitative analysis to answer our different research questions. Our research questions were (1) What are the perceptions of learners on the usefulness of the administered VR lab modules? (2) What factors influence learners perceived usefulness of the administered VR laboratories? Our findings provide relevant insights for instructors in implementing virtual reality laboratories for classroom instruction for increased student acceptance to enhance learning outcomes.