Seeing Virtually: Teaching Electricty and Magnetism in Virtual Reality

In this talk I will present our recent exploration into teaching E&M with augmented reality. A short demo will also be presented.

Background: Augmented reality (AR) applications in STEM education have grown exponentially, yet questions remain about effective design principles. While cognitive approaches emphasize reducing complexity, social learning perspectives suggest value in promoting increasingly sophisticated engagement practices.

Methods: We analyzed 91 first- and second-year physics students' interactions with AR representations of electric fields using purposive sampling. Students worked predominantly in pairs exploring 3D visualizations of field properties through an iPad-based AR environment.

Results: Analysis revealed three key engagement patterns: (1) Perspective shifting: Students physically explored visualizations to develop spatial understanding; (2) Language shifting: Students progressively connected familiar terminology with formal physics concepts; (3) Role shifting: Students evolved from task completion to physics-based reasoning.

Conclusions: Findings suggest AR's effectiveness stems from supporting students’ evolution from peripheral to more central learning that involves the integration of social and linguistic emergence in the environment. Design implications include maintaining representational fidelity with traditional physics models and incorporating structured language scaffolds to promote sophisticated engagement practices.