Advancing STEM Student Success Through Virtual and Augmented Reality Integration at a Rural Two-Year College

This project aims serve the national interest by addressing student retention and success at a rural two-year college through integration of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies across early STEM courses. Mat-Su College resides within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in Alaska consisting of 25,000 square miles. This vastness makes it challenging for students to access advanced educational tools and hands-on lab experiences. To address this challenge, the project seeks to combine collaborative learning activities with a high-impact immersive technology approach that has the potential to significantly enhance student engagement, improve understanding of complex concepts, and foster interest in STEM fields. The broader significance of this project lies in its potential to reduce educational barriers, increase student retention and success in STEM, and create pathways to high-demand careers. Importantly, these outcomes support regional workforce development and contribute to the reduction of the state’s youth out-migration. The goals of the project are to: 1) enhance engagement, interest and conceptual understanding in STEM fields like biology, chemistry, and physics through immersive VR simulations, 2) facilitate collaborative learning through a team-based learning environment where students can work together on complex, real-world problems in an interactive virtual space, and 3) improve retention and success rates in STEM disciplines in the rural Matanuska-Susitna Valley of Alaska. To accomplish these goals, the project focuses on the development of course-specific immersive modules including 3D anatomical models, molecular visualization, and 3D geometrical interaction, all aimed at making the invisible visible. Combined with these strategies, the project incorporates student-centered and collaborative approaches to deepen conceptual understanding and enhance academic performance. Assessment and evaluation leverage a mixed-methods approach to examine the impact on student engagement, learning outcomes, and retention. Findings inform the development of effective practices in VR/AR integration and support dissemination to a wide range of stakeholders. By integrating technology with evidenced-based teaching practices, the initiative positions two-year colleges as key contributors to advancing innovation in STEM education. The NSF IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC) Program seeks to accelerate and advance knowledge about the impact of emerging and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.