Linking technology usage to instructional quality: Immersive virtual reality increases presence, positive emotions, and cognitive activation

Abstract

Technologies such as immersive virtual reality (IVR) pose new challenges to educators and researchers. While there are mixed results concerning the consequences of integrating IVR into education, the present study proposes a new direction in this field, by combining research on presence – the feeling of being in a specific environment – with instructional quality. In a controlled experimental study, we show how the integration of IVR in contrast to text and tablets increases presence, positive emotions (interest and enjoyment), and indirectly affects clarity as a dimension of cognitive activation. Given the results, studies on the effects of IVR should not only focus on direct reactions and learning outcomes, but also take other established educational paradigms (e.g., instructional quality) into account.

Who benefits and who doesn't in virtual reality learning: An experimental study comparing two types of school

“…However, participants did not seem to make significant use of this Several recent studies have shown that if the IVR conditions are instructionally more elaborate than in a control group, students achieve better results (Büssing et al, 2022;Jong et al, 2020). Similarly, when different versions of VR are the variable, the most complex ones have been found to produce the best results (Stavroulia & Lanitis, 2023).…”

Science lab safety goes immersive: An ecological media-comparison study with gender analyses assessing iVR’s learning effectiveness

“…In comparison to reading how to perform a certain procedure, the opportunity to actually do or enact that procedure, possibly even repeatedly as allowed by VR simulations, is likely to invoke the feeling of active engagement and self-directed learning, especially when real-world engagement with the procedure is difficult or impossible. In iVR, this feeling is facilitated and enhanced by a combination of high-levels immersion and sense of presence (e.g., sense of "being there" in person), and interactivity (Büssing et al, 2022;Chessa et al, 2019;Johnson-Glenberg, 2018;Kateros et al, 2015). This in turn is shown to support learner interest and motivation, overall engagement, and enjoyment (Maresky et al, 2019;Stepan et al, 2017;Teranishi & Yamagishi, 2018).…”

“…Consistent with these embodied cognition accounts, affective theories of learning have long emphasized the intricate positive relationships between "doing", active (e.g., handson or bodily) engagement/participation, and non-cognitive aspects of one's learning such as interest, motivation, self-efficacy, overall engagement, and enjoyment (Bandura, 2001;Büssing et al, 2022;Maresky et al, 2019;Stepan et al, 2017;Teranishi & Yamagishi, 2018). In comparison to reading how to perform a certain procedure, the opportunity to actually do or enact that procedure, possibly even repeatedly as allowed by VR simulations, is likely to invoke the feeling of active engagement and self-directed learning, especially when real-world engagement with the procedure is difficult or impossible.…”