VR Museum of Me
Steve Juárez is a PhD student in the Developmental and Psychological Sciences and Education Data Science programs at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. His research program examines the social-psychological processes that shape people's sense of belonging and the consequences to health and education. As an applied researcher and counselor-educator, he has partnered with schools for research and social impact.
Cyan DeVeaux is a Communication PhD Candidate and Computer Science MS Student at Stanford University. As a member of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab and Human-Computer Interaction Group, she researches the psychological, behavioral, and sociocultural implications of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Her current work explores identity, learning, and design in AR/VR.
This project was launched while Steve and Cyan were members of the 2022-2023 cohort of the Technology & Racial Equity Graduate Fellowship.
Virtual Reality in Education Research
Virtual reality (VR) can give us entry to an expansive range of experiences, each imbued with a strong sense of lifelike presence, effectively transporting us psychologically to those imagined experiences.
In education, VR holds substantial utility, offering students immersive experiences that might otherwise be bounded by temporal and spatial limitations, or constraints of the physical environment. From their classroom seats, students can delve into the ancient Greek civilization by exploring the Parthenon. Alternatively, they can create customized virtual experiences that provide a moment of psychological refuge during situations in school that are challenging or stressful.
VR Museum-of-Me
At Stanford, we’ve harnessed the power of immersive social VR to create the Museum-of-Me experience for students to design virtual classrooms or their own environments curated with personal cherished artifacts. We are interested in understanding how this VR experience shifts teachers’ and students' perceptions of classroom dynamics in ways that students are better able to feel a sense of belonging and form greater trust at school.
Our inquiry extends the impact of this VR experience on students’ school engagement, paving the way for enriched learning experiences and enhanced social classroom relationships. Through partnership with the Stanford-SPLASH program, we provided the Museum-of-Me VR experience to students from local schools. The VR program experience demonstrated compelling results for greater social belonging and student engagement. Our aspiration is to equip educators with tools to harness the capabilities of VR technology to support students' learning.
VR Research Partnership
We are partnering with schools to continue to provide students with this free VR experience. The requirements from the school are minimal as we will provide the technology and facilitate the activities with students at school. If you are interested, please email vreducation [at] stanford.edu (vreducation[at]stanford[dot]edu).
