Development and testing of a scale for examining factors affecting the learning experience in the Metaverse

Abstract

The Metaverse, as it gradually becomes a reality, offers great possibilities for education, providing a new dimension of engagement, interaction, and experiences for students and educators alike. Yet, researchers lack tools that would allow them to simultaneously examine a satisfactory number of factors that shape one's experience when engaged in educational applications in the Metaverse. The study at hand is an attempt to fill this gap, as it reports the steps followed for the development and testing of the Metaverse Learning Experience Scale. The statistical analyses of data coming from 462 university students who participated in its testing, established the scale's validity and reliability. Its final version can capture the views of users using forty-three items, examining ten factors (namely, perceived quality of the virtual environment's graphics, perceived cognitive load, perceived ease of use/control of the virtual environment, immersion/presence, perceived feedback and content quality, perceived degree of interaction, motivation to learn and use the virtual environment, perceived usefulness/knowledge gains, simulator sickness, and positive feelings. The scale's factorial structure together with the implications it has for research and practice are also discussed.