Enhancing Student Engagement through a Web-Based Three-Dimensional Virtual Environment

Dr. William Sause

April 9th, 2021, 3pm

The rise of online courses due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the use of web conferencing tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Blackboard Collaborate to conduct lectures. Research has found that classes that utilize these tools suffer from lack of student engagement. Prior studies have attempted to address this issue using three-dimensional virtual environments (3DVE) which have resulted in technical problems experienced by their participants. This research provides and investigates the use of a 3D virtual classroom that integrates a 3DVE with web conferencing features to improve student engagement and resolve the technical issues reported in previous studies.