A STEM Program Used VR and AI Tools to Support Students With Learning Differences.

Standard STEM instruction often loses students who process information differently. Text-heavy explanations and static diagrams are not the only way to teach molecular biology or physics, but most classrooms default to them anyway.

Grantham Secondary School ran a semester-long program for 18 students aged 15 to 16, all of whom had documented learning differences including dyslexia and ADHD. The program used VR environments to teach cell biology concepts, and integrated AI tools to support comprehension outside the headset.

The structure of the program

Students explored 3D cell structures in VR, then used ChatGPT Plus for post-session Q&A in plain language. For students who found reading AI responses difficult, Merlin AI was used to convert written explanations into shorter spoken summaries via browser extension.

What the data showed

1. Engagement during VR sessions was notably higher than during traditional lessons for 15 of the 18 students
2. Students using ChatGPT Plus for follow-up questions asked more specific questions than they had in written homework
3. Merlin AI audio summaries reduced the gap between students who processed text slowly and those who did not

Learning coordinator Brigid Ó Murchadha emphasized that the VR removed the barrier of static representation, while the AI tools removed the barrier of dense written explanation.