Developing a virtual laboratory for biology (VLab-Bio) : A preliminary study

Virtual Reality (VR) are three dimensional, computer generated simulated environments that occur in realtime as manipulated by the user. VR technologies are promising tools for learning. The current demand to reduce the time and cost involved in doing laboratory experiments is to turn to new and emerging technologies such as VR technologies. This paper discusses a preliminary study conducted for a research project on developing a Virtual Laboratory for learning Biology (VLab-Bio). In order to choose the topic to be developed for Vlab-Bio, a preliminary study has been carried out which comprises of an interview with biology teachers, a survey using questionnaire and an analysis on reports obtained from Malaysian Examination Board. The results of this preliminary study showed that there is a need to develop a virtual laboratory for biology for the topic Cell Division. The preliminary findings also confirmed the learning objectives to be focused in the VLab-Bio.