A Comparative Study on the VR Experience of Students in a Digital Documentary Game

Abstract

VR technologies, which are used in many fields today, have also started to be used in education through the game platforms with the realistic and interactive environments they provide. The 'Following the Traces of Sedad Hakkı Eldem in Istanbul project, developed within the scope of a scientific project jointly carried out by the Architecture and Digital Game Design Departments at the host university, is an architecture-themed documentary game designed for educational purposes. Within the game's scope, three different projects of architect Sedad Hakkı Eldem, whose name is frequently mentioned in the history of the Early Republic period and in the modernization processes, were selected. The game's scenario was developed to perceive these architectural spaces by experience. However, this experience may vary according to the different department users due to their focal points and educational structures. According to this, this study conducted a research with the students at the host university to see how this documentary game was perceived and evaluated by students from two different departments. In order to conduct a comparative research, a questionnaire was directed to the students after their game experience. Especially the results of the third part proved the differences in the students' perceptions of different departments. On the other hand, although students from these two departments revealed some differences in their focus and approach to evaluating the game, the results also showed that the game provided an overall beneficial educational experience.