Hands-on DNA: Exploring the Impact of Virtual Reality on Teaching DNA Structure and Function

Molecular biology is a demanding subject, requiring students to master abstract, three-dimensional (3D) concepts across a range of spatial scales. Virtual reality (VR) is a medium that excels at portraying scale and 3D concepts, and allows people to have tangible experiences of otherwise intangible subjects. This paper describes Hands-on DNA, a virtual reality learning experience for teaching undergraduate university students about the scale and structure of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA), a central molecule in molecular biology. The intention of Hands-on DNA is to leverage the advantages of virtual reality against specific challenges faced in teaching molecular biology. We derive design requirements motivated by pedagogy, provide guidelines, and discuss lessons learned during development. Our user study shows that students perceive Hands-on DNA as a fun, engaging, effective learning tool, and that it addresses some of the weaknesses in molecular biology education. Our results also suggest that new interaction techniques to support learning in VR need to be developed (e.g., for note taking) and that the increasing penetration of recreational VR increases students’ expectations and hence the risk of students being disappointed of VR learning tools.