Learning with virtual reality simulations: direct versus vicarious instructional experience

ABSTRACT

As virtual reality (VR) technologies have been increasingly adopted in the educational field, careful consideration and evaluation of instructional modes to support learning with VR are needed. This study focuses on evaluation of two instructional modes: direct interaction and manipulation of the VR learning environment; and the vicarious approach of observing how a novice peer and an expert learn with VR. An experimental design was utilized with two comparison conditions: direct VR interaction (n = 72) and the vicarious approach (n = 69). Participants’ knowledge and emotional engagement were evaluated via self-report questionnaires. Results showed that though learning with the direct VR condition was associated with more intense emotional engagement, there was no significant difference in knowledge gains between the two study conditions. The findings suggest that each of the two instructional modes has specific instructional affordances and that the cognitive and emotional components of learning via VR should be further explored. Since learning vicariously through observing the dialogue between an expert and a peer can have immediate knowledge gains comparable to the direct VR interaction, there is an effective and more accessible opportunity for VR-based learning. Future research should evaluate this instructional effect on knowledge retention.

KEYWORDS:

• virtual reality
• vicarious learning
• simulation
• medical education
• nursing education

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Liat Liberman for assisting with data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by 2019 Sigma / National League for Nursing Research Award.

Notes on contributors

Ilana Dubovi

Ilana Dubovi is a learning science researcher at the Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. Her work spans the fields of educational technology, cognition and emotion in learning processes, lifelong learning and medical education. Currently, she is especially interested in the learning analytics domain, studying how multimodal psychophysiological measures can provide more continuous and objective insight into how students’ engagement unfolds and impacts learning achievements.