  Stereoscopic virtual reality (VR) has experienced a resurgence due to
flagship products such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and smartphone-based VR
solutions like Google Cardboard. This is causing the question to resurface: how
can stereoscopic VR be useful in instruction, if at all, and what are the
pedagogical best practices for its use? To address this, and to continue our
work in this sphere, we performed a study of 289 introductory physics students
who were sorted into three different treatment types: stereoscopic virtual
reality, WebGL simulation, and static 2D images, each designed to provide
information about magnetic fields and forces. Students were assessed using
preliminary items designed to focus on heavily-3D systems. We report on
assessment reliability, and on student performance. Overall, we find that
students who used VR did not significantly outperform students using other
treatment types. There were significant differences between sexes, as other
studies have noted. Dependence on students' self-reported 3D videogame play was
observed, in keeping with previous studies, but this dependence was not
restricted to the VR treatment.
