Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality Research Articles

Technological solutions for promoting employees' knowledge levels and practical skills: An SVVR-based blended learning approach for professional training

In professional training programs, how to help learners fully understand the contexts and problem-solving procedure in the workplace is a crucial and challenging issue. Due to the advancements of computer and multimedia technology, many professional training programs have applied technology to provide richer learning content. Blended learning is a learning approach combining online and physical courses. In the blended learning mode, learners can not only learn through multimedia teaching materials, but also interact and practice with teachers and students in online and physical classrooms. However, the conventional blended learning (C-BL) mode mainly presents teaching content through online videos and physical courses. In such a learning environment with one-way information transmission and without experience, it is not easy for most learners to experience the actual situations encountered in the professional training process, which affects their judgment and actual handling performance. In order to tackle this problem, this research adopted spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) technology and applied it in a general registered nurse (RN) training program via a blended learning mode. To verify the effects of this teaching approach, a quasi-experimental study was conducted in a RN training program in a large-scale hospital. The experimental group employed the SVVR-BL mode while the control group employed the C-BL mode. The results indicated that the SVVR-BL mode could not only improve learners' learning achievement, but also enhance their problem-solving tendency, meta-cognition tendency, and classroom engagement. The practical skills test results in the workplace further implied that, compared to the learners who adopted the C-BL mode, learners who adopted the SVVR-BL mode had better judgment, analysis, and overall performance of the handling process when encountering practical problems. As a result, SVVR-BL not only helped learners gain knowledge and improve their higher order thinking, but also assisted them in applying what they had learned to solve real problems. This result can serve as an important reference for SVVR-BL studies and the design of professional training programs in the future.

Promoting deep writing with immersive technologies: An SVVR‐supported Chinese composition writing approach for primary schools

AbstractWriting is a recording process involving complex dynamic behaviours, which is closely connected with authentic contexts. A free authentic context can form a link with students' life experience and their prior knowledge, so that students' deep writing skills can be stimulated. However, in traditional writing activities, the lack of authentic experience is an important reason for students' poor writing achievements and low behavioural engagement. To address this problem, the current study used a spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR)‐supported Chinese composition writing approach, which can provide authentic contexts to support students' deep writing. An SVVR experiential learning model was developed and a quasi‐experiment was conducted in a primary school to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach. A total of 59 fourth‐grade students from China were recruited and were randomly divided into the experimental group, which adopted the SVVR‐supported learning approach, and the control group, which adopted the non‐SVVR‐supported learning approach. The results show that the proposed approach can promote students' transition of learning behavioural engagement from medium to high, as well as the development of deep writing skills. It was found that students learning with the SVVR approach who acquired better deep writing skills tended to demonstrate better writing performance in relation to linguistic expressiveness and creative thinking than the students learning with the non‐SVVR approach. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic There is an urgent need to use immersive technologies to promote deep learning and stimulate students' learning behavioural engagement in writing. Spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) is one of the immersive VRs with a low technical barrier and low cost, which meets the needs of school settings. SVVR has been applied in areas of language, engineering, science, etc., while its impacts on students' composition writing achievements have generally been ignored, especially in primary schools. The characteristics of immersion, interaction and imagination in SVVR that allow students to have opportunities of experiential learning can potentially promote students' writing performance. What this paper adds A novel experiential learning model supported by the SVVR learning system was developed. An SVVR‐supported composition writing approach based on the proposed experiential learning model was used to promote primary school students' deep writing. It was found that students' composition writing performance, learning behavioural engagement and deep writing skills can be improved by applying the SVVR‐supported learning approach in writing courses. Implications for practice and/or policy It is worth promoting the application of SVVR in school settings because it is a low‐tech and low‐cost method of creating immersive learning environments. The SVVR‐supported composition writing approach is useful for promoting primary school students' deep writing. Further investigations on the effects of employing this approach in writing, with careful consideration of the development for interactivities of SVVR, are expected.

Investigating Learners’ Engagement and Chinese Writing Learning Outcomes with Different Designs of SVVR-Based Activities

The goal of this study is to explore the affordances of spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR)-based learning activities by comparing the students’ learning engagement models and their writing learning outcomes in a double-loop SVVR-based (DL-SVVR) learning activity and a single-loop SVVR-based (SL-SVVR) learning activity, respectively. For this purpose, we conduct an empirical study involving 82 fourth-grade students. The statistical results show that the students in the DL-SVVR group had higher learning behavioral engagement and better writing learning outcomes than those in the SL-SVVR group. Furthermore, as for the interrelationship between the subscales of students’ learning engagement, we find that, for the students in SL-SVVR group, their behavioral engagement can be positively predicted by the emotional engagement, while in the DL-SVVR group, students’ behavioral engagement can be positively predicted by their social engagement. For both groups, their social engagement can positively predict the emotional engagement. Importantly, our empirical results also show that the double-loop learning approach can potentially promote students’ writing learning outcomes by shifting their social engagement and behavioral engagement. The qualitative analysis results indicate that peer interaction has a positive impact on improving students’ learning interest and writing outcomes.

Not perfect but good enough: a primer for creating spherical video-based virtual reality for autistic users

PurposePrevious research provides promising insights to the role of spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) applied with and for autistic users. Work already conducted in this area suggests that SVVR delivered via a range of head-mounted displays (HMDs) are useable, acceptable, can enable skill acquisition, can be relevant for delivering training, can help to reduce discomfort and promote skills generalization. However, to date very little research articulates methods or approaches to the design and development of SVVR. Here, the authors share the experiences of working in this space and designing SVVR content with and for autistic groups.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw upon two case studies/projects that were previous worked on with the intention to extrapolate key parts of the production process of SVVR development. The authors also outline key theoretical contexts as related to SVVR development in this field.FindingsThe goal of this primer on SVVR is to provide researchers and practitioners with an overview of using this technology. The authors provide a set of recommendations that should inform others in creating their own content and developing SVVR for/with/by autistic people.Originality/valueThis work combines and outlines theoretical, conceptual and practical considerations for practitioners and stakeholders seeking to build and deploy SVVR content; aspects not reported in previous research.

A motivational model‐based virtual reality approach to prompting learners' sense of presence, learning achievements, and higher‐order thinking in professional safety training

AbstractIncreasing learners' sense of presence is important in professional training, in particular, when aiming to foster their competences of making judgements and solving problems when facing real cases. However, in conventional training programmes, sometimes it is difficult to situate learners in real cases owing to several considerations, such as cost and potential danger. Scholars have indicated that the lack of opportunities to experience real contexts could seriously affect the training outcomes. To cope with this problem, the present study proposes a spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR)‐based professional training (SVVR‐PT) approach based on the attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction (ARCS) model to situate learners in an authentic training environment to experience the process of solving practical cases before facing real cases. To evaluate the effectiveness of the approach, a true experiment was conducted in a hospital by randomly assigning 70 nurses to an experimental group learning with the SVVR‐PT approach and a control group learning with the conventional training approach. The experimental results show that the proposed approach outperformed the conventional approach in terms of promoting the learners' sense of presence and learning achievement as well as their problem‐solving tendency and critical‐thinking awareness. Moreover, the SVVR‐PT learners also showed higher technology acceptance than the conventional training group. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic? Spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) immerses learners in an authentic environment that enables them to have more opportunities to experiment and practice. Attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction model has great potential in promoting learners' motivation and engagement. What this paper adds? A motivational model‐based virtual reality approach is proposed to facilitate learners' professional training performance. In addition to promoting learners' training performance, the results claimed that the proposed approach could promote students' sense of presence, problem‐solving tendency and critical‐thinking awareness. Implications for practice and/or policy It is potentially worth using the motivational model‐based virtual reality approach in professional training to facilitate learners' performances and perceptions. The proposed approach can further analyze and compare the effects of the cooperative learning strategy on learners' performance and recorded learning process.

Facilitating decision making in authentic contexts: an SVVR-based experiential flipped learning approach for professional training

ABSTRACT Facilitating decision making in authentic contexts is an important educational objective of professional training. To enable learners to have more opportunities to practice in authentic contexts under the guidance of instructors, the flipped learning mode of shifting the lectures to be the pre-class activity with the presentation of digital media has gradually been receiving attention. However, the conventional flipped learning mostly uses videos to present teaching content. In such a learning environment with one-way information and lack of experience, it is not easy for most learners to experience the actual situation encountered in the nursing procedure, which affects their judgment and performance when dealing with actual scenarios. To solve this problem, the present study adopted spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) to provide an experiential learning mode in flipped learning. To verify the effects of this teaching mode, this study conducted an experiment in a blood transfusion safety training course. The experimental group used the SVVR-based experiential flipped learning (SVVR-EFL) mode, while the control group used the conventional flipped learning mode. The results showed that using the SVVR-EFL mode not only enhanced new nursing staff’s learning achievement, but also increased their decision-making performance, meta-cognition tendency, problem-solving tendency and classroom engagement.

Towards Figurative Expression Enhancement: Effects of the SVVR-Supported Worked Example Approach on the Descriptive Writing of Highly Engaged Students

During the past decades, many researchers have attempted to explore effective teaching methods for developing students’ descriptive writing performance. In this study, the worked example was implemented as an effective way of guiding students to provide step-by-step solutions to learning tasks. Moreover, a spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) environment was provided to place students in real-world situations which enabled them to experience the learning contexts in depth. A pretest-posttest quasi experimental study was conducted to explore the influence of the SVVR-supported worked example approach and engagement level on students’ Chinese descriptive writing performance. A total of 79 fourth-grade elementary school students participated in this study. The experimental group used SVVR with worked examples to complete Chinese writing assignments, whereas the control group used videos and worked examples. The results showed no significant effects of the SVVR-supported worked example approach compared with the conventional worked example approach regarding organization, sensory details, or creativity dimensions. As for the figurative expression dimension, students in the SVVR-supported worked example approach condition scored significantly higher. Moreover, high engagement students significantly outperformed low engagement students in all four writing performance dimensions. Additionally, a significant interaction effect between learning approach and engagement level on figurative expression was found.

Examining the Effectiveness of 3D Virtual Reality Training on Problem-solving, Self-efficacy, and Teamwork Among Inexperienced Volunteers Helping With Drug Use Prevention: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundIllegal drug usage among adolescents is a critical health problem. The Taiwanese government provides an accompanying volunteer program to prevent students who experiment with drugs from reusing them. An appropriate training program can improve volunteers’ abilities to assist students using drugs. Problem-solving, self-efficacy, and teamwork are critical abilities for inexperienced volunteers who help with drug use prevention. By interacting with the animation or 3D virtual reality (VR) in the virtual scene, learners can immerse themselves in the virtual environment to learn, and 3D VR can increase learning opportunities and reduce the cost of human and material resources.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) training in improving problem-solving, self-efficacy, and teamwork among volunteers who helped prevent adolescents from using illegal drugs.MethodsThis study used a randomized controlled design with a total of 68 participants in the experimental (n=35) and control (n=33) groups. The participants in the experimental group received the SVVR training program and their counterparts in the control group did not receive any training.ResultsGeneralized estimating equation analyses indicated that the experimental group showed significant posttraining improvements in problem-solving and self-efficacy but not teamwork when compared with the control group.ConclusionsThe results of this study revealed that SVVR could improve participants’ problem-solving skills and self-efficacy for assisting students in not using illegal drugs. However, future studies are suggested to develop effective SVVR to assist inexperienced volunteers in enhancing their teamwork abilities. We believed that introducing the training program to more sites can enhance volunteer training so that volunteers can have a better companionship effect when helping students quit drugs.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05072431; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05072431

A question, observation, and organisation‐based SVVR approach to enhancing students' presentation performance, classroom engagement, and technology acceptance in a cultural course

AbstractIntracultural learning emphasises the importance of understanding one's own culture and that of foreign countries; furthermore, it involves sharing relevant opinions with people from around the world and developing an understanding and acceptance of differences. In order to immerse students in foreign countries to experience the cultures and environment, this study used spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) to present authentic contexts. By referring to previous research and the constructivism learning theory, this study proposed the question, observation, and organisation (QOO)‐based SVVR approach. The aim of the proposed approach was to strengthen students' presentation performance, enrich their discussion, and increase their engagement. To investigate the effects of the QOO‐based SVVR approach, a quasi‐experiment was conducted in a cultural course, with a total of 60 high school students from two classes. The experimental group students used the QOO‐based SVVR approach to learn knowledge of world cultures, while the control group students learned with the conventional SVVR approach by observing in the SVVR environment, and then having team discussions and completing worksheets. The findings showed that the QOO‐based SVVR approach significantly enhanced the students' world cultures presentation performance in terms of accuracy, organisation, and relevance. The results showed a significant difference between the different learning approaches regarding acceptance of the use of SVVR. The interview results further indicated that the students learning with the QOO‐based SVVR approach had a greater tendency to learn to make more accurate, organised, and relevant presentations due to the benefits of the graphical learning methods, and to express their thoughts freely. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the two groups' classroom engagement. Accordingly, discussion of the findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic The potential of spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) in educational domains has been highlighted by researchers. In the VR‐supported learning process, a proper teaching approach should be considered to guide students to engage in meaningful learning. What this paper adds The Question, Observation and Organization (QOO)‐based SVVR approach based on constructivism learning theory was proposed to promote students' intracultural learning. The QOO‐based SVVR approach promoted students' world cultures presentation performance in terms of accuracy, organization, and relevance, as well as the acceptance of the use of SVVR. Implications for practice and/or policy The QOO‐based SVVR approach is a potential approach for teachers to guide students in VR‐supported learning process. The tools utilized in each stage can be replaced by other tools with similar functions for different learning contexts, such as using the repertory grid method in the “Organization” stage for science learning. Future research can integrate the QOO‐based SVVR approach into other teaching modes, such as flipped classrooms or inquiry‐based learning.

Effects of the self-regulated strategy within the context of spherical video-based virtual reality on students’ learning performances in an art history class

ABSTRACT In recent years, several researchers have introduced spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) into classroom teaching to help students learn different subjects. In SVVR learning, learners are typically presented with great autonomy over their learning process. Therefore, learners should engage in self-regulated strategy (SRS) learning in order to successfully study in SVVR. However, learners often struggle to self-regulate their learning. Therefore, we implemented a SRS intervention in SVVR. In this study, a SVVR environment was developed to situate students in art history contexts; moreover, the SRS was employed to guide students to improve their performance and to make reflections on their own performance. In order to evaluate the proposed approach’s effectiveness, we carried out an experiment in a university art history class. The experiment results reveal more positive effects of the SRS-based SVVR approach compared with the non-SRS-based SVVR approach in terms of the learners’ learning achievements, self-regulation, meta-cognitive awareness, as well as self-efficacy. In addition, this study specified that this approach would not have an effect on students’ cognitive load. As a result, the SRS-based SVVR approach proposed in the current study was effective in art history education.

Teachers' Conceptions of Teaching Chinese Descriptive Composition With Interactive Spherical Video-Based Virtual Reality.

Phenomenographic research about teachers’ conception of teaching has consistently revealed that teachers’ conception of teaching influence their classroom practices, which in turn shape students’ learning experiences. This paper reports teachers’ conceptions of teaching with regards to the use of interactive spherical video-based virtual reality (ISV-VR) in Chinese descriptive composition writing. Twenty-one secondary teachers in Hong Kong involved in an ISV-VR-supported Chinese descriptive writing program participated in this phenomenographic study. Analyses of the semi-structured interviews establish seven conception categories that are specifically related to the use of ISV-VR for descriptive Chinese composition writing: (1) offering students more observational opportunities; (2) improving students’ writing skills; (3) promoting students’ learning participation and motivation; (4) shifting learning from teacher-centric to student-centric, (5) enhancing collaborative learning among students; (6) cultivating students’ positive values and moral character, and (7) shaping students’ self-identity as “writers.” The concurrent and convenient access to the ISV-VR resources was for the teachers an enriched and supportive environment for them to cultivate students’ writer identity. In addition, it was discovered that the structural relationships of the conceptions may be better organized along three axes of continuum: conception’s orientation, teaching attention locus, and understanding of writing. These categories form a hierarchy from skill-oriented to community-oriented, and finally to identity-oriented conception. The findings may provide researchers and practitioners with novel insight into the teaching of composition writing in the contexts of L1 acquisition supported by virtual reality technology.

From experiencing to expressing: A virtual reality approach to facilitating pupils’ descriptive paper writing performance and learning behavior engagement

AbstractDue to the lack of life experience and situational experience, it is difficult to arouse pupils’ inner motivation and interest in writing. Therefore, the early stage of Chinese writing may be a challenge for Chinese pupils. In order to solve this problem, a spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) experience learning system was developed to help pupils improve their writing performance and interest. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was carried out in a primary school in Zhejiang province, China. First, a writing pretest was administered in two grade 4 classes. The researchers then randomly selected 40 pupils of about 10 years old with similar writing abilities, and assigned them to an experimental group, which used the SVVR learning method, and a control group, which used the traditional learning method. The researchers observed and recorded the pupils’ writing process and then, interviewed them. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the comprehensive writing performance of the two groups (F = 6.272; p = .017 < .05). The mean of the experimental group (Mean = 73.85) was higher than that of the control group (Mean = 70.00). Moreover, there were significant differences between the two groups in terms of the thematic coherence, structural integrity and linguistic expressiveness of their writing performance. However, there was no significant difference in the achievement of creative thinking. In the experimental group, different levels of learning behavior engagement could affect the structural integrity and language expression of writing achievements, and the degree of writing learning behavior engagement was highly correlated with reading time. Through the interviews, it was found that the pupils in the experimental group were more satisfied with the SVVR learning method than the control group pupils were with the traditional learning method. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic? Spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) set a simulated environment enabling students to have in‐depth experience in learning contexts. Most SVVR studies focused on speaking and writing in middle schools and colleges, while its impacts on young children’s writing performance is generally ignored. What this paper adds? An SVVR system based on experiencing learning theory was developed to promote young students’ in‐depth experience and perception in descriptive paper writing. The proposed approach promoted students’ writing performances, writing experience and learning behavior engagement. Implications for practice and/or policy SVVR is a potential technology for implementing experiential learning activities, especially in improving thematic coherence, structural integrity and linguistic expressiveness. It is worth promoting such a low‐tech and low‐cost experiential learning approach to other courses.

Effects of experiencing authentic contexts on English speaking performances, anxiety and motivation of EFL students with different cognitive styles

ABSTRACT English speaking is a challenging learning objective for EFL (English as Foreign Language) learners owing to the lack of practicing environments. In this study, Interactive Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (ISVVR) was adopted as the learning mode to provide realistic sociocultural contexts for English speaking. In addition, an experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of the SVVR approach on the English speaking performances and anxiety of the EFL students with different cognitive styles. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was conducted to investigate the effects of the interaction between cognitive style and multimedia learning mode on students’ learning motivation, speaking anxiety, oral presentation, and move analysis. The student sample consisted of two classes of 93 students. All of the students took the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) to identify whether their cognitive style was field dependent or independent. The results showed a significant effect for the interaction between the cognitive styles and the learning modes on the students’ oral presentation and speaking anxiety. Their structural moves in oral presentations with the ISVVR learning mode showed more similar spoken genre patterns to those of TED speakers. Findings further support the benefit of incorporating cognitive styles into the ISVVR learning mode for EFL learners.

Learning to be a writer: A spherical video‐based virtual reality approach to supporting descriptive article writing in high school Chinese courses

AbstractIn language education, the development of writing capability is an important and challenging teaching objective. Writing performance is related not only with students’ comprehension and expression of texts, but also their experience and perceptions of the contexts. Descriptive article writing is a basic writing activity; the content includes concrete understanding and perceptions of space, time, and contexts. However, in the traditional language teaching activities, there is usually no chance for students to have in‐depth feelings about the contexts of a topic. This usually results in low learning motivation and limited expression during the writing process. Therefore, the present study attempted to adopt spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) to enable students to have in‐depth experience and perceptions and to facilitate their learning effectiveness. Based on this approach, a Chinese writing SVVR learning system was developed and a quasi‐experiment was conducted to compare the effects of the proposed approach and the conventional technology‐supported learning approach in a senior high school writing class. The findings show that the proposed SVVR writing approach could improve students' writing performance in terms of content and appearance as well as their creativity tendency and writing self‐efficacy, while also reducing their cognitive load.

Effects of peer assessment within the context of spherical video-based virtual reality on EFL students’ English-Speaking performance and learning perceptions

English has been recognized as a means of communication around the globe. However, owing to the lack of realistic English practicing contexts, EFL (English as Foreign Language) students generally have few opportunities to communicate with people in English, not to mention to get feedback from others for making reflections. In this study, a spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) environment was developed to situate students in authentic English-speaking contexts; moreover, the peer assessment (PA) strategy was employed for guiding students to provide comments on peers' speaking performance and to make reflections on their own performance. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted in a high school English course. The experiment results reveal more positive effects of the peer-assessment-based SVVR approach compared with the non-peer-assessment-based SVVR approach in terms of the learners' English speaking, learning motivation, and critical thinking skills, as well as reducing their English learning anxiety. Moreover, it was found that the ratings of the students were statistically correlated with those of the teacher. This study further analyzed the types of peer comments by categorizing them into four types: Praise, Criticism, Opinion, and Irrelevant. It was found that Praise feedback was helpful for the students' English-speaking performance, while Criticism feedback might have been unfavorable in this case. Additionally, Irrelevant feedback was not significantly correlated with the students’ performance in the earlier PA stage, but had a significantly negative correlation in the later stage.

Effects of spherical video-based virtual reality on nursing students’ learning performance in childbirth education training

ABSTRACT The childbirth education training course aims to help nurses establish the basic ability to care for pregnant women. However, in traditional teaching, it is often difficult for learners to distinguish the meaning of different childbirth signs. While virtual reality (VR) may be connected in most people’s minds with videos designed for immersive entertainment, in fact its early purpose was for nursing education. Initial forms of Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (SVVR) were used to prepare and train nursing students, pilots, and military personnel. In this paper, an exploratory study using social learning theory embedded in SVVR for childbirth education training is presented; moreover, the learning performances of nursing students who participated in SVVR classroom learning and those who learned with the traditional approach were compared. The experimental results show that, compared with the traditional instruction, the learning motivation and learning satisfaction of the students who learned with SVVR were better, showing the potential of this powerful medium for enhancing nursing students’ learning performance in the context of childbirth education.

Engaging university students in a library guide through wearable spherical video-based virtual reality: effects on situational interest and cognitive load

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate differences in students’ situational interest (exploration intention, instant enjoyment, novelty, attention demand, challenge, and total interest) and cognitive load (intrinsic, extraneous, and germane) of VR-guide and map-guide groups in a university library. The VR-guide group used wearable spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) devices, while the map-guide group used tablets to learn the functions of the library. Both groups completed a prior knowledge test, field tasks, a situational interest scale, and a cognitive load scale. The results show that, in comparison with the use of the map-guide, the wearable VR-guide could yield a higher degree of “Novelty” and “Challenge” (in the situational interest dimension), as well as higher germane cognitive load. This study reveals that harnessing SVVR in learning and teaching has a positive impact on university students. The educational use of SVVR has good potential for transforming students’ way of learning, improving traditional learning, and enhancing students’ understanding of content and learning motivation.

Integrating spherical video-based virtual reality into elementary school students’ scientific inquiry instruction: effects on their problem-solving performance

ABSTRACT Developing the problem-solving abilities of elementary school students has been recognized as an important educational objective. Science curricula, because of their practical and experimental characteristics, are thought to be an important way to develop students’ problem-solving ability. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in teaching practices provides new possibilities for the development of problem-solving abilities by providing students with a richer situation, making the learning process more interesting and interactive, improving students’ motivation and attention, and helping them to discover and explore their own knowledge. In this research, we conducted a study on the use of exploratory scientific practice activities based on Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (SVVR) in science classes, and verified the impact of such activities on the problem-solving abilities of elementary school students. The results show that integrating SVVR into exploratory scientific practice instructions has a significant effect on students’ learning outcomes and problem-solving abilities. The results also reveal that the integration of SVVR has different influences on students with different learning attitudes. Relatively speaking, students with poorer learning attitudes benefitted more from the scientific inquiry activity than those students with more positive attitudes.

Understanding the pedagogical potential of Interactive Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality from the teachers’ perspective through the ACE framework

ABSTRACT This study explores the pedagogical potential of Interactive Spherical Video-Based Virtual Reality (ISVVR) in geography education from the teachers’ perspective. Based on a synthesized developmental model, namely ACE (Acceptance, Creation, and Expertise), we analyzed 187 sets of survey data collected in teacher professional training in which geography teachers were introduced to the production of ISVVR for learning and teaching purposes. The quantitative data analysis revealed that the participants were positive about the pedagogical use of ISVVR. Also, based on the analysis of the qualitative data gathered through the open-ended survey questions via a data-mining technique, we found that participants’ adoption concerns were already beyond the evaluative acceptance level, majorly revolving around issues on pedagogical technology integration. It is suggested that further efforts of teacher professional development are needed for designing and refining the pedagogical use of ISVVR in practice.

Detecting the effect of student engagement in an SVVR school-based course on higher level competence development in elementary schools by SEM

ABSTRACT This research aims to explore the latent effect of elementary student engagement in a Spherical Video-based Virtual Reality (SVVR) environment for a school-based course on higher level competence development. Student engagement and higher level competence development were investigated using a valid sample of 324 students from five elementary schools in China. Factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data. The fitness of the items for each scale of the student engagement survey and higher level competence development survey indicated a sufficient fit and also confirmed the questionnaire’s structure. The relevant factors of student engagement promote their higher level competence development in the model. The SEM analysis shows that student engagement has a significant positive impact on higher level competence development. The findings could be a good reference for those who intend to develop a specific topic of school-based courses on technology for fostering students’ higher level competence development.