Missouri Community College to Bring Cinematic VR Learning Experience to Classrooms

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Oct 24, 2024, 09:00 ET

St. Charles Community College partners with Dreamscape Learn to increase student engagement and performance through experiential immersive learning

COTTLEVILLE, Mo., Oct. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- St. Charles Community College today announced a groundbreaking partnership with Dreamscape Learn to introduce state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) learning experiences, revolutionizing how students engage with complex subjects through immersive, cinematic storytelling. As the first community college in the Midwest to collaborate with Dreamscape Learn, this partnership allows area students to excel in an increasingly complex and competitive workforce.

"As we look to the future and consider how best to equip our students with the skills they'll need to succeed, we recognize the importance of virtual and augmented reality in enhancing the learning environment," said Dr. Barbara Kavalier, President/CEO of St. Charles Community College. "Our collaboration not only invests in the cutting-edge tools, but also reinforces our long-standing commitment to academic excellence and innovative student engagement. Together, we are creating transformative learning opportunities that will prepare our students to excel academically, professionally and personally."

Dreamscape Learn has developed courseware for introductory STEM courses that enable faculty to send students on virtual scientific "missions," where they collaborate with peers to develop the analytical and quantitative skills needed to solve complex problems while mastering core facts and knowledge. Students actively play the role of field biologists in a virtual world wherein they discover, analyze, and solve novel, multifaceted problems in life science.

In their first year, St. Charles Community College expects 500 students to participate in courses that integrate Dreamscape Learn. As new content is developed, additional students will be impacted across academic disciplines, allowing every St. Charles student to engage in learning in the Dreamscape environment, planned for a large, 3,500 square foot space in SCC's Conoyer Hall on its main campus in Cottleville. With SCC's forthcoming Regional Workforce Innovation Center opening in 2025, this collaboration will also serve as a springboard for introducing some skills, such as welding, in a virtual environment, helping prepare students for tomorrow's high demand fields.

"We know storytelling serves as a crucial partner in education; a natural pairing that empowers students to achieve their academic dreams. In the short time since our first student stepped into our interactive worlds, we've seen that utilizing VR-enabled experiences in the classroom can reliably and effectively engage students, driving marked success in both achievement and retention," said Josh Reibel, CEO of Dreamscape Learn. "Students at St. Charles Community College will have the ability to immerse themselves fully into the source material, and do so along with their peers and instructors, building collaboration at each step of the way."

Since launching in 2022 in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU), Dreamscape Learn's immersive 'Biology in the Alien Zoo' course has been used in introductory biology classes reaching more than 25,000 ASU students. Research at ASU found that students performed better in courses that integrated this new approach to teaching and learning —with participants nearly 2 times more likely to achieve an A grade. This success has led ASU to fully transition its introductory biology labs to the Dreamscape Learn platform.

About St. Charles Community College:
A highly regarded public, comprehensive two-year community college in St. Charles County, Missouri, SCC offers associate degrees and certificate programs in business, technology, manufacturing, engineering, agriculture, culinary arts, education, science, nursing/healthcare, arts, humanities, the trades, and more. For more information, visit www.stchas.edu.

About Dreamscape Learn
Dreamscape Learn is a collaborative venture between Dreamscape Immersive and Arizona State University, merging the most advanced pedagogy with the entertainment industry's best emotional storytelling. Dreamscape Learn redefines how we teach and learn in the 21st century, while aiming to eliminate student learning gaps. Learn more at DreamscapeLearn.com

SOURCE Dreamscape Learn