A Structured Virtual Reality Laboratory Methodology for Teaching Structural Mechanics to Undergraduate Engineers

Abstract

Developing spatial and physical intuition for structural behaviour is a central challenge in undergraduate engineering education, and virtual reality (VR) offers a compelling medium for addressing it through immersive, interactive exploration. However, most published research focuses on the design of VR platforms, with limited attention to how instructors should organise and deliver VR‐based teaching sessions. Without deliberate pedagogical design, the novelty of immersive environments can dominate student attention at the expense of conceptual engagement. This paper presents a three‐phase teaching methodology for VR laboratories in structural engineering, which comprises: (1) an onboarding phase that manages the novelty effect through guided familiarisation and controlled exploration, (2) a group demonstration in which the lead Teaching Assistant (TA) introduces key concepts within the VR environment, and (3) a team‐based problem‐solving activity with formative assessment. In this study, the methodology was deployed across two undergraduate modules in structural mechanics at Imperial College London (Structures I and Structures II), reaching a combined eligible cohort of approximately 300 students per year. The methodology was developed over 2 academic years: an initial year of unstructured deployment that informed the design of the three phases, and a subsequent year of structured delivery that constitutes the evaluation reported in this paper. Evaluation surveys indicate high engagement across both deployments, with interest and enjoyment scores between 8.9 and 9.7 out of 10. Self‐reported understanding scores (7.1–8.6) are more moderate, consistent with the fact that the VR sessions target visual intuition rather than primary conceptual instruction. The methodology is described in sufficient detail for direct adoption by engineering educators at other institutions.