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2 METHODOLOGY
The VR-Mine is being created with the Unity game engine. It is accessible by means of HeadMounted Displays (HMD) and controllers and was designed with the help of photogrammetry in combination with modelled environments to convey a realistic impression of the
mine. In addition to the possibility of interaction with the virtual environment, it contains a
database so that students can inform themselves about specific aspects at various locations.
The theory is supplemented by 360°/conventional video sequences of specific processes and
mining expert interviews at suitable points of the story line to refine the understanding of
practical applications. Furthermore, the students can play through certain processes in the
sense of a gamification (e.g. selection of a suitable drill pattern based on given parameters as
rock strength). This chapter describes the critical considerations that were taken into account
to create the VR-Mine.
2.1 General considerations
First and foremost, the understanding of processes and the students’ abilities to provide
transfer knowledge should be activated and the reference of the taught contents to the real
world facilitated. This means that higher taxonomy levels going beyond the mere reproduction of knowledge according to Bloom (1974), and taken up by Marzano and Kendall (2007),
are explicitly addressed. The adaptation of lectures and exercises with respect to a flipped
classroom is an essential component of the project. The developed approaches are applied
in the graduate courses ‘principles of underground mining’ and ‘health and safety’, both of
which demand a high degree of process understanding. In the VR-Mine, the students must
solve virtually presented problems and thereby cooperatively engage in a discourse with each
other and the teacher. In addition, the immersion creates transparency over comprehensive
processes for even complex situations are designed interactively. Through the perceived physical presence in the VR environment, students are given the feeling of closeness to reality in
order to activate affective learning. Regarding the students’ motivation, it is expected that the
creation of references that are relevant to the job has a positive effect. Ultimately, the lowcost repeatability of the problems to be solved in the VR world, in contrast to a laboratory,
allows self-determined learning.
2.2 Technical considerations
Following from the general considerations, it can be stated that the requirements for the
VR-Mine in terms of realism and computing power are high. For these reasons, low-cost
cardboard solutions with smartphones are excluded as they do not allow the depiction of
detailed and interactive environments due to their lack of computing capacity. Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE) systems are not considered either as they offer a lower
degree of immersion compared to HMD and they are still considerably more expensive. A
disadvantage of these systems is that they must be permanently installed in a sufficiently
large room and are therefore not semi-mobile. (Freina and Ott 2015) This does not allow
transportation and usage elsewhere if required.
2.3 Basics of the learning concept
The basis of the learning concept is the change ‘from teaching to learning’, in which research
and learning formats are increasingly merging (Wildt 2009). The focus is on making learning
sustainable and on enabling ‘deep’ learning in which the learner becomes active. According
to Ertl and Mandl (2004), learning situations must be created in a way that they are situated
and structured on the basis of external problems, take place in multiple contexts, and enable
learning in a social context and from multiple perspectives. The following research questions on higher taxonomy are to be answered in the course of the VR-Mine’s application in
teaching:
2 METHODOLOGY
The VR-Mine is being created with the Unity game engine. It is accessible by means of HeadMounted Displays (HMD) and controllers and was designed with the help of photogrammetry in combination with modelled environments to convey a realistic impression of the
mine. In addition to the possibility of interaction with the virtual environment, it contains a
database so that students can inform themselves about specific aspects at various locations.
The theory is supplemented by 360°/conventional video sequences of specific processes and
mining expert interviews at suitable points of the story line to refine the understanding of
practical applications. Furthermore, the students can play through certain processes in the
sense of a gamification (e.g. selection of a suitable drill pattern based on given parameters as
rock strength). This chapter describes the critical considerations that were taken into account
to create the VR-Mine.
2.1 General considerations
First and foremost, the understanding of processes and the students’ abilities to provide
transfer knowledge should be activated and the reference of the taught contents to the real
world facilitated. This means that higher taxonomy levels going beyond the mere reproduction of knowledge according to Bloom (1974), and taken up by Marzano and Kendall (2007),
are explicitly addressed. The adaptation of lectures and exercises with respect to a flipped
classroom is an essential component of the project. The developed approaches are applied
in the graduate courses ‘principles of underground mining’ and ‘health and safety’, both of
which demand a high degree of process understanding. In the VR-Mine, the students must
solve virtually presented problems and thereby cooperatively engage in a discourse with each
other and the teacher. In addition, the immersion creates transparency over comprehensive
processes for even complex situations are designed interactively. Through the perceived physical presence in the VR environment, students are given the feeling of closeness to reality in
order to activate affective learning. Regarding the students’ motivation, it is expected that the
creation of references that are relevant to the job has a positive effect. Ultimately, the lowcost repeatability of the problems to be solved in the VR world, in contrast to a laboratory,
allows self-determined learning.
2.2 Technical considerations
Following from the general considerations, it can be stated that the requirements for the
VR-Mine in terms of realism and computing power are high. For these reasons, low-cost
cardboard solutions with smartphones are excluded as they do not allow the depiction of
detailed and interactive environments due to their lack of computing capacity. Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVE) systems are not considered either as they offer a lower
degree of immersion compared to HMD and they are still considerably more expensive. A
disadvantage of these systems is that they must be permanently installed in a sufficiently
large room and are therefore not semi-mobile. (Freina and Ott 2015) This does not allow
transportation and usage elsewhere if required.
2.3 Basics of the learning concept
The basis of the learning concept is the change ‘from teaching to learning’, in which research
and learning formats are increasingly merging (Wildt 2009). The focus is on making learning
sustainable and on enabling ‘deep’ learning in which the learner becomes active. According
to Ertl and Mandl (2004), learning situations must be created in a way that they are situated
and structured on the basis of external problems, take place in multiple contexts, and enable
learning in a social context and from multiple perspectives. The following research questions on higher taxonomy are to be answered in the course of the VR-Mine’s application in
teaching: