Effect of summarizing scaffolding and textual cues on learning performance, mental model, and cognitive load in a virtual reality environment: An experimental study

Abstract

The effect of summarizing scaffolding on learning for elementary school students in immersive virtual reality settings with textual cues is unknown. To address this research gap, we conducted a 2 * 2 factorial experimental study to investigate the potential effect and interaction of summarizing scaffolding (yes vs. no) and textual cues (yes vs. no) on learning performance, mental model, and cognitive load. A total of 152 participants from a suburban elementary school were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: no textual cues & no summarizing scaffolding (n = 38), textual cues & no summarizing scaffolding (n = 39), no textual cues & summarizing scaffolding (n = 37), and textual cues & summarizing scaffolding (n = 38). ANOVA results showed that (a) textual cues significantly improved learning performance and the mental model; (b) summarizing scaffolding significantly enhanced the mental model; and (c) no significant interaction effects were identified, indicating that young students can benefit from immersive virtual reality with textual cues or summarizing scaffolding. The implications of the findings on the design of effective immersive learning environments are discussed.