Impact of virtual reality on learning perception

Abstract

This thesis studies the perception of learners towards virtual reality as a learning tool to understand whether the learners hold any positive or negative perception towards VR and to build further knowledge on how VR should be adopted as an aid for teaching in academic and vocational institutes. Mixed research was conducted, which included an experiment where participants (n=31) were asked to wear a VR HMD and experience a pedagogical simulation, and then respond to a questionnaire. Subsequently, an online questionnaire (n=144) was dispersed amongst VR and non-VR users, to measure similar attributes based on their experience with VR technology. The questionnaire consisted of Likert, semantic differential scale, and open-ended questions. The results show that the perception of VR as a learning tool, although mostly positive, differs according to the experience of the participants with VR technology. The participants from the experiment and with prior academic VR experience have a dominant positive perception towards VR, whereas those with entertainment and no experience show marginally lower positive perception.