TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-term effectiveness of immersive vr simulations in undergraduate science learning: Lessons from a media-comparison study
AU - Pande, Prajakt
AU - Thit, Amalie
AU - Sørensen, Anja Elaine
AU - Mojsoska, Biljana
AU - Moeller, Morten E.
AU - Jepsen, Per Meyer
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021, Association for Learning Technology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Our main goal was to investigate if and how using multiple immersive virtual reality (iVR) simulations and their video playback, in a science course, affects student learning over time. We conducted a longitudinal study, in ecological settings, at an undergraduate field-course on three topics in environmental biology. Twenty-eight undergraduates were randomly assigned to either an iVR-interaction group or a video-viewing group. During the field-course, the iVR group interacted with a head-mounted device-based iVR simulation related to each topic (i.e. total three interventions), while the video group watched a pre-recorded video of the respec-tive simulation on a laptop. Cognitive and affective data were collected through the following checkpoints: a pre-test before the first intervention, one topic-specific post-test immediately after each intervention, a final post-test towards the end of the course, and a longitudinal post-test deployed approximately 2 months after the course. Through a descriptive analysis, it was found that student performance on the knowledge tests increased considerably over time for the iVR group but remained unchanged for the video group. While no within-or between-group differences were noted for intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy measures, students in the iVR group enjoyed all the simulations, and perceived themselves to benefit from those simulations.
AB - Our main goal was to investigate if and how using multiple immersive virtual reality (iVR) simulations and their video playback, in a science course, affects student learning over time. We conducted a longitudinal study, in ecological settings, at an undergraduate field-course on three topics in environmental biology. Twenty-eight undergraduates were randomly assigned to either an iVR-interaction group or a video-viewing group. During the field-course, the iVR group interacted with a head-mounted device-based iVR simulation related to each topic (i.e. total three interventions), while the video group watched a pre-recorded video of the respec-tive simulation on a laptop. Cognitive and affective data were collected through the following checkpoints: a pre-test before the first intervention, one topic-specific post-test immediately after each intervention, a final post-test towards the end of the course, and a longitudinal post-test deployed approximately 2 months after the course. Through a descriptive analysis, it was found that student performance on the knowledge tests increased considerably over time for the iVR group but remained unchanged for the video group. While no within-or between-group differences were noted for intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy measures, students in the iVR group enjoyed all the simulations, and perceived themselves to benefit from those simulations.
KW - Educational technology
KW - Higher education
KW - Longitudinal
KW - Science education
KW - Virtual reality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099843331&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.25304/rlt.v29.2482
DO - 10.25304/rlt.v29.2482
M3 - Journal article
SN - 2156-7069
VL - 29
SP - 1
EP - 24
JO - Research in Learning Technology
JF - Research in Learning Technology
M1 - 2482
ER -