Using virtual reality to enhance teaching in a high school anatomy and physiology course

Teaching anatomy and physiology is a foundational science that is complex. There is a push in high schools (grades 9-12) to incorporate technology into the classroom to supplement traditional teaching to encourage motivation and hands on engagement. One of these technologies is virtual reality (VR). There is evidence that VR can enhance learning experiences. However, there is little evidence on whether VR contributes to active learning at the high school (grades 9-12) level specifically in anatomy and physiology and within a specific demographic of students. In this study, we used a mixed method approach to investigate whether VR increased student performance. Moreover, we investigated students’ perception of physiology learning with the incorporation of VR into the curriculum. Our data showed student test scores significantly improved with the incorporation of VR into the skeletal lecture (p < 0.0001), n=31. We also found improved test scores with the incorporation of VR into the cardiovascular lecture. (p < 0.006), n=31. We next wanted to investigate students’ perception of using VR as a supplement to traditionally teaching anatomy and physiology. Our results showed 30% of students stated that using VR provided a classroom setting for hands-on learning. This was followed by an improved understanding of complex concepts for 22% of the students. Quantitative and qualitative data indicate that incorporating VR into the anatomy and physiology curriculum improved the quality of physiology education by creating an engaging, hands-on environment that fostered improved test scores This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2026 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.