A technological bridge to equity: how VR designed through culturally relevant principles impact students appreciation of science

Although the population of science teachers in the US lacks diversity, the technology used to teach science should be diverse and culturally connected. Culturally relevant frameworks for science call for science teaching to be situated in meaningful contexts. This study calls for the integration of CRP and situated cognition perspectives as a means of designing pedagogically effective virtual reality. This mixed-methods study explored N = 444 students changes in attitudes after experiencing VR lessons on an attitude survey and qualitative short answers. We found that all students who used the VR improved their attitudes towards science. We also found that students who used the CRP designed VR developed a conscious and politically aware application of science. The results suggest that educational technology should carefully consider how using CRP-based approaches can have both cognitive and cultural implications of students’ learning.