An Investigation of the Relation Between Immersion and Learning Across Three Domains

TL;DR

Design guidelines that outline when immersive virtual reality might be most beneficial in didactic contexts are synthesized, and they provide CAMIL-informed recommendations and strategies to improve learning outcomes and overall experiential quality.

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between immersion and learning across three domains (cultural heritage, environmental awareness, and high school physics) through the lens of the Cognitive Affective Model of Immersive Learning (CAMIL) framework. We present three applications we developed for this investigation, highlighting their shared design elements and domain-specific mechanics. Using a common evaluation protocol across lab studies and a classroom deployment, we assessed learning outcomes, user experience, technology acceptance, presence/embodiment, and cybersickness. Our results show that immersive virtual reality led to higher scores for presence, user experience, and technology acceptance. In contrast, learning outcomes were mixed. In immediate post-test evaluations, factual knowledge scores were comparable between immersive virtual reality and control groups. In the end, we synthesize design guidelines that outline when immersive virtual reality might be most beneficial in didactic contexts, and we provide CAMIL-informed recommendations and strategies to improve learning outcomes and overall experiential quality.

Figures (10)

• Figure 1: CAMIL's framework, adapted from makransky2021camil.
• Figure 2: RHOME-VR map with eight lecture points.
• Figure 3: RHOME-VR learning ((a), (b), and (c)) and TAM ((d), (e), (f)) results.
• Figure 4: Food collected by Envisioning Corals' characters: microorganisms moved by the sea current (coral -- left), small debris (hermit crab -- middle), and jellyfish (turtle -- right).
• Figure 5: Envisioning Corals study 1 results, divided by avatar. Top: Overall embodiment and agency. Bottom: EDA.