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1. Collaborative Tasks in Immersive Virtual Reality Increase Learning

   Queiroz, A. C.; McGivney, E.; Liu, S. X.; Anderson, C. O.; Beams, B.; DeVeaux, C.; Frazier, K.; Han, E.; Miller, M. R.; Petersen, X. S.; et al (April 2023, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning)

   Advances in immersive virtual reality (IVR) are creating more computer-supported collaborative learning environments, but there is little research explicating how collaboration in IVR impacts learning. We ran a quasi-experimental study with 80 participants targeting ocean literacy learning, varying the manner in which participants interacted in IVR to investigate how the design of collaborative IVR experiences influences learning. Results are discussed through the lens of collaborative cognitive learning theory. Participants that collaborated to actively build a new environment in IVR scored higher for learning than participants who only watched an instructional guide’s avatar, or participants who watched the guide’s avatar and subsequently discussed what they learned while in IVR. Moreover, feeling negative emotions, feeling active in the environment, and feeling bonded to the group members negatively correlated with learning. Results shed light on the mechanisms behind how collaborative tasks in IVR can support learning. 

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2. Longitudinal Effects in the Effectiveness of Educational Virtual Field Trips

   https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331211062925  

   Zhao, Jiayan; Wallgrün, Jan_Oliver; Sajjadi, Pejman; LaFemina, Peter; Lim, Kenneth_Y_T; Springer, Jan_P; Klippel, Alexander (December 2021, Journal of Educational Computing Research)

   Virtual and immersive virtual reality, VR and iVR, provide flexible and engaging learning opportunities, such as virtual field trips (VFTs). Despite its growing popularity for education, understanding how iVR compared to non-immersive media influences learning is still challenged by mixed empirical results and a lack of longitudinal research. This study addresses these issues through an experiment in which undergraduate geoscience students attended two temporally separated VFT sessions through desktop virtual reality (dVR) or iVR, with their learning experience and outcomes measured after each session. Our results show higher levels of enjoyment and satisfaction as well as a stronger sense of spatial presence in iVR students in both VFTs compared to dVR students, but no improvement in learning outcomes in iVR compared to dVR. More importantly, we found that there exists a critical interaction between VR condition and repeated participation in VFTs indicating that longitudinal exposure to VFTs improves knowledge performance more when learning in iVR than through dVR. These results suggest that repeated use of iVR may be beneficial in sustaining students’ emotional engagement and compensating the initial deficiency in their objective learning outcomes compared to other less immersive technologies. 

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3. Examining User Interactions With Signaling Elements in a Virtual Reality Learning Application

   https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813251360711  

   Fang, Emily; Kulasingam, Robert; Cheng, Fangyuan; Peterson, Matthew; Delgado, Cesar; Chen, Karen B (August 2025, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting)

   This preliminary study examined how users leveraged three different types of signaling elements in Scale Worlds, an immersive virtual reality (IVR) application designed to improve size and scale cognition. Signaling elements, which are instructional cues in the form of graphics, colors, sounds, or text in IVR, may improve learning outcomes by enhancing related cognitive processes. However, it is unclear the extent to which learners utilize these signaling elements in practice. A think-aloud protocol was used to examine how participants engaged with signaling elements, with thematic analysis suggesting that numerical measures were a particularly salient cue for conceptualizing the size and scale of entities in IVR. These findings can guide design decisions for future work on educational IVR in the context of size and scale cognition or STEM education, as implementing numerical measures to facilitate mathematical reasoning in IVR environments may bolster learning outcomes related to numeracy and conceptual understanding. 

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4. Rotational Self-motion Cues Improve Spatial Learning when Teleporting in Virtual Environments

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3385959.3418443  

   Lim, Alex F.; Kelly, Jonathan W.; Sepich, Nathan C.; Cherep, Lucia A.; Freed, Grace C.; Gilbert, Stephen B. (October 2020, Symposium on Spatial User Interaction)

   null (Ed.)

   Teleporting interfaces are widely used in virtual reality applications to explore large virtual environments. When teleporting, the user indicates the intended location in the virtual environment and is instantly transported, typically without self-motion cues. This project explored the cost of teleporting on the acquisition of survey knowledge (i.e., a ”cognitive map”). Two teleporting interfaces were compared, one with and one without visual and body-based rotational self-motion cues. Both interfaces lacked translational self-motion cues. Participants used one of the two teleporting interfaces to find and study the locations of six objects scattered throughout a large virtual environment. After learning, participants completed two measures of cognitive map fidelity: an object-to-object pointing task and a map drawing task. The results indicate superior spatial learning when rotational self-motion cues were available. Therefore, virtual reality developers should strongly consider the benefits of rotational self-motion cues when creating and choosing locomotion interfaces. 

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5. Increasing Students Expertise and Career Competencies Skills in Computer Network using Project-Based Learning and Blended Practical in a Cognitive Apprenticeship Framework

   Walters-Williams, Janett (April 2023, Association of Computer Science Departments at Minority Institutions (ADMI 2023) Symposium)

   The digital revolution resulted in an increase demand for a computer network workforce prepared by universities and colleges. The Computer Network field however, is complex and unpredictable, making it challenging to study and teach yet educators must prepare graduates who understand concepts, have practical network skills as well the necessary Higher Order Thinking Skills. This paper presents a case study utilizing a new methodology based on a merger of Project-Based Learning, Hands-on Learning, Simulation Based Learning, in a Cognitive Apprenticeship framework. It seeks to increase students’ (i) expertise in Computer Network, (ii) self efficacy and (iii) Higher Order Thinking skills competency levels. After 4 years of implementation, analysis of results shows, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, that students (i) acquired and increased their domain knowledge, (ii) acquired procedural and processed knowledge while solving problems, in given scenarios (iii) increased their self-efficacy in Computer Networks and (iv) increased their Higher Order Thinking skills 

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