DOI: 10.14457/tu.the.2019.1472
title: Virtual reality application to aid civil engineering laboratory course

description: This thesis presents the development and evaluation of the Virtual Reality (VR) application to aid civil engineering laboratory preparation for undergraduate students. The study was aimed at establishing an interconnection between VR technology and educational pedagogy that leads to producing an effective learning method. The study was carried out under three main objectives. Firstly, the study aimed at developing a VR application to aid a civil engineering laboratory course. The second objective was to measure the potential of the “VR-Aid Learning” in construction training and education based on learners’ perspectives. The third objective was to investigate learners’ perceptions toward the “VR-Aid Learning” in comparison with the current “Instructor-Aid Learning” and the “Video-Aid Learning”. The study workflow consists of: (1) the demonstration of the development of the VR application for advanced head-mounted devices (HMDs); and (2) the illustration of the formulation of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) including the criteria, AHP diagram, and the assessment technique to evaluate the users’ preferences toward the “VR-Aid Learning” in comparison with the “Video-Aid Learning” and the actual “Instructor-Aid Learning”. The participants involved in the experiment were both experienced and non-experienced civil engineering students at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, from both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In the experiment, twenty-six students participated in the experiment among which fifteen of them were bachelor's degree students and the other eleven were graduate students. Upon the completion of the data analysis, the result shows that the developed “VR-Aid Learning” was more desirable and useful compared with the “Video-Aid Learning” concerning its potential in providing an interactive learning scenario (Interactivity criterion), motivating learners’ engagement in the learning process (Cognitive Interest criterion), providing a better lecture demonstration (Ease of Understanding Content criterion) , and assisting the learners to successfully achieve the learning goals (Support for Learning criterion). Even though the “VR-Aid Learning” was overall evaluated as the second most preferable and useful learning method compared with the “Instructor-Aid Learning”, it still contains some features that are more powerful than the “Instructor-Aid Learning” including the ability to encourage and motivate learners to engage in the learning activities (Cognitive Interest Criterion), and its ability to offer a flexible learning method in terms of time and location for learning (Accessibility Criterion). Additionally, significant differences between graduate and undergraduate students’ perceptions toward the three Learning Aids were identified. According to the analyzed result, the graduate students showed their preferences toward the “VR-Aid Learning” more than the “Instructor-Aid Learning” and the “Video-Aid Learning” methods respectively, while the undergraduate students evaluated the “Instructor-Aid Learning” as the most preferable and effective learning method compared with the other two learning aids. Noticeably, both graduate and undergraduate students ranked the “Video-Aid Learning” as the least preferable method to aid the construction learning process.