“Fashionable Education: Is RGB the new black?” by McMenemy and Ferguson

The last decade has shown a big revolution in learning and teaching across primary, secondary and tertiary level education with particular reference to mathematics and science.

Whilst this revolution has been ongoing, the developments in real-time 3D stereo graphics have allowed the production of realistic virtual worlds and computer generated animated movies by utilising low cost equipment and easy to use software.

This paper presents the authors findings as we introduced the concept of computer graphics and computer animation into the assessment procedure for a module of a degree program in Electrical and Electronic Engineering: Virtual Reality Systems.

The fundamental question that needs to be addressed is whether this source of fashionable education is simply a fad or will it become a closet staple? That is, does the use of educational entertainment improve the learning and teaching outcomes within science based subjects.

Our results show that by including a significant proportion of peer reviewed design material into the syllabus students become highly motivated and achieve a deeper level of comprehension of the subject material in the course