Even More Students Rated UniVirtual! Here’s What They Thought

Over 1,200 biology students at the University of Central Florida completed a survey about their experience using UniVirtual as part of their introductory biology course in Fall 2025. The results provide insight into how students access the UniVirtual platform on their own devices or school computers, navigate the world, and engage with the learning environments.

Software Installation

Students were asked whether they experienced any difficulty installing the UniVirtual software if they downloaded it to their own device.

• 93% of students reported no technical difficulty installing UniVirtual

This shows that UniVirtual can be accessed smoothly across a wide range of student devices. Students who used their own device reported using personal laptops (58%) and desktops (42%) to access UniVirtual, on Mac and PC.

About a fifth (21%) of students exclusively used their campus library computers to access their virtual labs.

Ease of Navigation

Students were asked how easy they found navigating our platform and using core features such as the course dashboard and avatar creation tools.

• 91% of students found it easy to navigate the UniVirtual dashboard

• 86% said that creating their avatar was easy

Most students quickly understood how to use the platform, another case of low friction for students accessing UniVirtual as part of their studies.

Student Engagement

Students rated, out of 100, how engaging they found the biology topics delivered virtually during their semester. Several received average engagement ratings above 80%, but the three highest-rated modules were:

• 83% — Macromolecules

• 81% — DNA

• 81% — Mitosis

Notably, each of these virtual labs employs a distinct pedagogical approach. Macromolecules combines animation with interactive activities, DNA presents a narrative-driven experience featuring Non-Player Characters (NPCs), and Mitosis enables students to construct 3D models within the environment.

This suggests that traditional simulation-based approaches and more conceptual, experiential learning designs can effectively engage students and foster a strong sense of active participation.

What the Results Show

The survey highlights how UniVirtual supports very large introductory biology courses with a platform students can access easily and find engaging! As class sizes continue to grow, tools that allow students to actively participate in learning become increasingly important.

To find out how students rate their satisfaction with the support provided in UniVirtual, see the results of our Spring 2025 survey here.