Usability Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Interactive Music Appreciation Module (E-Marz) for Secondary School

Abstract

Advancement in Virtual Reality (VR) technology can be benefited for educational purposes. This article reports on a study undertaken to evaluate the usability of a Virtual Reality (VR) Interactive Music Appreciation Module (E-Marz) for the Lower Secondary School. The study has employed the Design and Development Research (DDR) which comprised of three different phases as its methodology. E-Marz was developed systematically based on the m-ADDIE Model which include the Evaluation Phase. The objective of the evaluation phase was to measure the level of usability of the module by using the System Usability Scale Questionnaire given to the field experts and the Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire given to students as the end users. The findings of the evaluation phase showed that E-Marz had obtained a high level of usability based on the expert views and the surveys on students as end users. The outcome of this study has contributed in terms of the development of an educational media which incorparated elements of VR for the teaching and learning of music appreciation in secondary schools. The module has the potential to assist teachers and students in facilitating for a more active and fun learning environment in the classroom through the application of the VR technology. The E-Marz module also served as a medium of early exposure for students to be familiar with the VR technology which will be widely used in the era of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.