Assessing the desirability of virtual reality exams

Abstract

Technology and educational systems have been going hand in hand over the years, creating various digital examination platforms to further improve and digitize the pen and paper examination process in schools and universities. However, these improvements still offer the same stress and anxiety a student may experience during a pen and paper exam. Virtual reality technology has been making its way to desktop computers and mobile phones and its use has varied between many fields including medical, scientific, and military. In this thesis, the use of virtual reality technology focuses on the education field. A virtual reality examination platform called VR Exam was created and assessed to see if it helps students stress less and focus more on their exams. The application requires a virtual reality headset and a mobile phone. During the exam, students open the VR Exam application and plug their phones into the headset, allowing them to see the exam in a 3D classroom environment where they can aim and click at answers and finally submit them. The results showed that the majority of students found that the process enhances their focus and confidence. The results also showed that students are willing to use this system as a tool to conduct multiple-choice exams. However, 46.8% of the participants felt that the process did not reduce their stress as they felt this technology is quite new to them and needs practice on its own.