Perceived Learning in Virtual Reality and Animation-Based Learning Environments: A Case of the Understanding Our Body Topic

Abstract

This paper reports on a study aiming at examining the effects of virtual reality and animations on students' perceived learning. The study was conducted as an exploratory case study in virtual reality-based and animation-based environments. Participants were 12, 4th grade elementary school students enrolled at a public Science and Art Center. The data in the study were obtained by interview and observation method. The findings of the study presented according to the readiness, learning performances, affective gains and interaction in terms of perceived learning. While immersion is found as a positive feature that is robust in virtual reality-based environment, limited interactivity somewhat negatively influenced perceived learning in animation-based learning environment. While virtual reality-based learning environment provided high student-content interaction, surprisingly this caused some un-realistic perceptions of students about their own learning. The study also informed designers on the relations between perceived learning, learning performances and design features of virtual reality and animation-based learning environments.