A Virtual Reality Lab for Automotive Service Specialists: A Knowledge Transfer System in the Digital Age

ABSTRACT

Under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an accelerated transition from the traditional form of knowledge transfer to online learning. Our study of 344 automotive students showed that the success of this transition depends on the readiness to introduce special digital tools for organizing knowledge and conducting practical forms of classes. In this regard, a modern digital form of organizing and transferring knowledge to automotive service engineers in the form of virtual laboratories was developed and presented in the article. The work scenarios, functionality, and minimum technical requirements of virtual laboratories as software systems are described and reviewed in the paper. The rationale for the effectiveness of the application, based on the results of using 109 university students in training practice, is presented as a result of the research. An analysis of the distributions of the student survey results and their training progress revealed differences at the p = 0.05 significance level. This confirmed the hypothesis that the use of methods for teaching engineers special disciplines and language skills using VR technologies is much more effective than the traditional one. An increase in students' interest in learning was revealed, and their performance improved markedly. This proves that the immersive nature of VR technology makes it possible to better assimilate the studied material, increase the level of motivation of future car service specialists, and also allow the organization of the transfer of knowledge online. The very process of knowledge transfer becomes the point of acquiring new digital competencies necessary for high-tech industries. © 2023 by the authors.