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We present a study of student learning through the use of virtual reality. A software package is used to introduce concepts of special relativity to students in a game-like environment where users experience the effects of travelling at near light speeds. From this new perspective, space and time are significantly different to that experienced in everyday life. The study explores how students have worked with this environment and how these students have used this experience in their study of special relativity. A mixed method approach has been taken to evaluate the outcomes of separate implementations of the package at two universities. Students found the simulation to be a positive learning experience and described the subject area as being less abstract after its use. Also, students were more capable of correctly answering concept questions relating to special relativity, and a small but measurable improvement was observed in the final exam.

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In this article, the successful implementation of a development cycle for a physics teaching package based on game-like virtual reality software is reported. The cycle involved several iterations of evaluating students' use of the package followed by instructional and software development. The evaluation used a variety of techniques, including ethnographic observation, surveys, student focus groups and conventional assessment. The teaching package included a laboratory manual, instructional support materials and the Real Time Relativity software that simulates a world obeying special relativistic physics. Although the iterative development cycle was time consuming and costly, it gave rise to substantial improvements in the software user interface and in the students' learning experience.

We present an investigation of game-like simulations for physics teaching. We report on the effectiveness of the interactive simulation "Real Time Relativity" for learning special relativity. We argue that the simulation not only enhances traditional learning, but also enables new types of learning that challenge the traditional curriculum. The lessons drawn from this work are being applied to the development of a simulation for enhancing the learning of quantum mechanics

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We have developed and demonstrated the effectiveness of a set of online interactive learning modules to accompany physics courses at first-and second-year university levels. Students access the modules prior to attending lectures to familiarize themselves with content which is then discussed and reaffirmed in class. Student surveys and access data show that students were much more likely to use material presented in this form, rather than a textbook, when preparing for lectures given in an active learning format. The students found that interactive simulations, videos of problem-solving approaches prepared by course staff, and quick-check immediate feedback questions were all useful tools for lecture preparation-none of which are available when using a traditional textbook for lecture preparation.

A new variation of holographic interferometry has been utilized to perform simultaneous two-wavelength measurements, allowing quantitative analysis of the heavy particle and electron densities in a superorbital facility. An air test gas accelerated to 12 km/s was passed over a cylindrical model, simulating reentry conditions encountered by a space vehicle on a superorbital mission. Laser beams with two different wavelengths have been overlapped, passed through the test section, and simultaneously recorded on a single holographic plate. Reconstruction of the hologram generated two separate interferograms at different angles from which the quantitative measurements were made. With this technique, a peak electron concentration of (5.5 +/- 0.5) x 10(23) m(-3) was found behind a bow shock on a cylinder.