These are displays worn in front of the eyes, the display of which adapts according to the movement of the head and thus enables a view of the virtual environment of up to 360° ( Rolland and Hua, 2005). According to both definitions, so-called head-mounted displays (HMD) usually lead to a high degree of immersion ( Radianti et al., 2020). Depending on the VR technology, the extent of immersion may differ ( Radianti et al., 2020). On the other hand, immersion can be defined as objectively measurable by the characteristics of the technology used, such as its degrees of freedom, which relate to the user’s freedom of movement in a three-dimensional space ( Slater and Wilbur, 1997). While, this definition is also often used for presence, in this article we will limit ourselves to this definition of immersion. On one hand, immersion can be defined as a psychological state of how much learners feel mentally involved in the learning environment ( Li et al., 2020).
One of the most important features that distinguishes classical learning environments from VR environments is immersion. But what exactly is virtual reality (VR)? VR is defined as a realistic computer-generated environment that can engage multiple human senses ( Burdea and Coiffet, 2003), leading to the immersive and sensory illusion of actually being present in the VR environment ( Biocca and Delaney, 1995). With VRLE, learning scenarios can be created that would be difficult or impossible to implement in the real world. VRLE makes it possible for learners to be immersed in a wide variety of scenarios while feeling as if they are actually present in that environment. They are also increasingly used as a learning medium in educational institutions to enhance learning ( Radianti et al., 2020 Wu et al., 2020). In recent years, virtual reality learning environments (VRLE) have become increasingly popular. These results suggest that learners in a DVR can be supported by signals in their learning processes while simultaneously helping to reduce unnecessary cognitive load. However, no differences in germane cognitive load were found between groups. Participants in the signals group also experienced significantly lower extraneous cognitive load than participants in the non-signaling group. Transfer performance did not differ between groups.
The results show that learners who received signals in a DVR achieved significantly higher recall and comprehension scores than learners who did not receive signals. We also expected that the signaling group would experience less extraneous cognitive load and higher germane cognitive load than the non-signaling group. We hypothesized that the signaling group would achieve higher recall, comprehension, and transfer performance than the non-signaling group. In our between-subjects design, we examined a total of N = 96 participants who were randomly assigned to the signaling or non-signaling group. The present study investigated the effects of signals in a 360° DVR on learning outcomes and cognitive load. The signaling principle could be a promising approach to support these processes, as signals can guide learners’ attention to the relevant information ( Mayer, 2005). This can be distracting and require instructional support to help learners in their learning processes. Learning with desktop virtual reality learning environments (DVR) can be highly visual and present many visual stimuli simultaneously. Department of Learning and Instruction, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
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