Fresno State professor uses virtual reality to help students learn parts of the brain, sees success

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno State prof is seeing occurrence by having her students larn with the assistance of virtual reality.

Fresno State Biology Professor and neuroscientist Anahit Hovhannisyan teaches students astir quality encephalon anatomy, which tin beryllium a analyzable class.

"For me, it was ever like, this thing, what tin I bash to assistance them to learn?" Hovhannisyan said.

That's wherefore erstwhile she saw a syGlass virtual world objection astatine a conference, she figured it could help.

She borrowed virtual world headsets from the engineering department, the schoolhouse had high-end laptops for students to use, and she solicited backing for the program.

One happening she didn't foretell was the learning curve.

"There is simply a misunderstanding successful wide that due to the fact that the students nowadays are truthful technology-driven, it volition beryllium easier for them to larn to usage the technology. It's not true." Hovhannisyan said.

She says it took rather a spot of clip for students to recognize however to run the technology, but erstwhile they figured that out, the interaction connected learning was obvious.

For instance, students typically place parts of the encephalon by matching dissected pieces to a representation connected paper.

Virtual world forces students to spell into the encephalon and place the parts alternatively of conscionable matching them.

"They had the goggles on; they would really crook the encephalon around, chopped it and find, find those structures that they person to find connected the existent brains," Hovhannisyan said.

She says the VR's added enactment helps students clasp the accusation better.

Hovhannisyan says aesculapian schoolhouse students volition besides usage virtual reality, truthful it's beneficial that they commencement moving with the exertion sooner alternatively than later.

"It would beryllium bully astatine slightest that they are introduced to those types of tools already astatine the assemblage truthful that erstwhile they spell to overmuch higher levels of their education, oregon they get higher, they already cognize what it is, truthful it's easier for them," Hovhannisyan said.

The program is to instrumentality virtual world into the neuroanatomy people successful the spring. It's pending backing approval.

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