April 20, 2023
Biochemistry in virtual reality at Providence College
Tyler Stack, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and his students, Lily Dimmig ’23 and Alex Rodriguez-Schack ’24, discuss the potential of virtual reality to enhance and transform traditional classroom learning. Stack describes how the VR headset provides a different way of navigating through space, allowing students to walk around a protein and see it from different angles. Dimmig and Rodriguez-Schack share their excitement about the level of interactivity and complexity that VR brings to their learning experience. Dimmig also discusses her role in helping train students to use the headset outside of class hours. This project was made possible by a New Directions grant from the college’s Office of Sponsored Projects and Research Compliance. Stack’s goal was to explore the effectiveness of VR as a teaching tool.
