Teaching Biochemistry in the Metaverse
Can we learn biochemistry in the Metaverse? This was a question I asked myself nearly three years ago. After a long journey, I have the answer. But first, I need to explain the context.
Ten years ago, I realized that the conventional science lecture wasn’t working for undergraduate students at Columbia in my biochemistry course. I thought I had explained concepts clearly, but when it came time for students to demonstrate their understanding on exams, many weren’t getting the concepts I thought I had taught. I realized I needed a new way of teaching.
Moreover, I realized even back in 2012, with the proliferation of online courses, that at some point students will realize that there isn’t much difference between sitting in a 200-person lecture hall listening passively to me lecture, and sitting at home watching a Youtube video of someone lecturing on the same material. One is much less expensive than the other. But more importantly, neither is effective at inducing learning.
I became immersed in the literature on the science of learning, and began redesigning my biochemistry course. I attended a National Academy of Sciences workshop on teaching through active learning, discussed with colleagues, read many books, and analyzed what works for learning biochemistry.
These changes were appreciated by the students. More importantly, I found that students were more engaged, and learned better by answering problems in class, and by working in teams, which we reported in these two papers:
When the pandemic came in 2020, I pivoted to teaching on Zoom, as so many instructors did. My class was particularly effective in this format, given the active learning structure I had put in place. However, I realized the sense of being together was largely lost on Zoom, especially for a large class. Thus, I explored the use of virtual reality as a meeting place where I could gather with small groups of students and discuss the biochemistry course material in recitations and office hours. The students felt like they were back in a classroom, and the sense of presence in VR was remarkable! Moreover, we could upload 3D models of molecules and examine them together in our virtual meeting space — something we could never do even in a real classroom. Here is a video about our VR work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cXND8QC4kE
Once classes returned to in person on campus, I continued to use VR for some recitations, since it provides a unique tool for examining the three-dimensional aspects of molecules. I’ve been doing studies with colleagues at Columbia on the effectiveness of VR vs Zoom and in-person learning. We’re finding VR has a unique role to play in teaching and learning biochemistry.
Next, we plan to explore the use of augmented reality inside the classroom, to combine the advantages of being together in person with virtual 3D protein models.
I’ve been able to train my teaching assistants and instructional staff at our Center for Teaching and Learning in how to teach in VR. Here is an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coy3KXVeySo
There is hype and skepticism about the metaverse, and the use of VR and AR for applications beyond gaming. From my efforts over the last few years evaluating VR tools, I conclude that meeting together with students in VR has a unique and impactful role to play in education, especially when 3D spatial concepts are being taught. We’ll be continuing to use VR and AR for teaching biochemistry at Columbia. I welcome you to share your experiences with VR and AR in education below.
