Principal Investigator
Dr. John Liu, Mechanical Engineering; Dr. Michellana Jester, Sloan School of Management
Fund:
Education Innovation Funds
Funding Period:
AY2026
Department/Lab/Center:
Mechanical Engineering
Imagine a student logs onto the Canvas LMS to watch a video lecture. Instead of pointing to 2D slides, her instructor rotates the orientation of a magnetic dipole, then walks around it to discuss the field’s 3D structure. Virtual production (VP) - a new extended reality technique that uses large-format, high-fidelity LED screens - can transport instructors and students into the authentic contexts of their disciplines, from electricity and magnetism, mechanics, manufacturing, and global entrepreneurship. We propose to use VP to develop “lighthouse” instructional videos embedded into various MIT courses that “transport” the student and instructor into authentic contexts. We will develop VP-enabled pedagogy for 5 courses, in 3 schools, for a range of student levels: 8.02, 2.001, 2.002, 2.008, and 15.389. We will employ quantitative and qualitative methods to measure learning gains, understand student experience, and learning affordances.