Use curiosity for virtual reality "as a hook" in the engineering education

In this paper the use of student's curiosity to explore the virtual reality models in the World Wide Web is proposed as a new learning approach of engineering. Students were randomly assigned in two groups of 15 persons: one group shall use a virtual model downloaded from Web for the case study and the other no. Both groups of students have completed the same work assignment and have received the same instructions. While the results did not show that the students who completed the work with the virtual model performed better than their colleagues, there was a promising trend in favor of the use of the model. Students using the virtual model reported a better appreciation of real environment. The virtual model, when compared to written text, has the potential to encourage students to spend more time learning material because it is engaging and realistic.