Examining the relationships between students’ perceptions of technology, pedagogy, and cognition: the case of immersive virtual reality mini games to foster computational thinking in higher education

Friday Joseph Agbo*, Sunday Adewale Olaleye, Matt Bower, Solomon Sunday Oyelere

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
98 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Researchers are increasingly exploring educational games in immersive virtual reality (IVR) environments to facilitate students’ learning experiences. Mainly, the effect of IVR on learning outcomes has been the focus. However, far too little attention has been paid to the influence of game elements and IVR features on learners’ perceived cognition. This study examined the relationship between game elements (challenge, goal clarity, and feedback) as pedagogical approach, features of IVR technology (immersion and interaction), and learners’ perceived cognition (reflective thinking and comprehension). An experiment was conducted with 49 undergraduate students who played an IVR game-based application (iThinkSmart) containing mini games developed to facilitate learners’ computational thinking competency. The study employed partial least squares structural equation modelling to investigate the effect of educational game elements and learning contents on learner’s cognition. Findings show that goal clarity is the main predictor of learners’ reflective thinking and comprehension in an educational game-based IVR application. It was also confirmed that immersion and interaction experience impact learner’s comprehension. Notably, adequate learning content in terms of the organisation and relevance of the content contained in an IVR game-based application significantly moderate learners’ reflective thinking and comprehension. The findings of this study have implications for educators and developers of IVR game-based intervention to facilitate learning in the higher education context. In particular, the implication of this study touches on the aspect of learners’ cognitive factors that aim to produce 21st-century problem-solving skills through critical thinking.

Original languageEnglish
Article number16
Pages (from-to)1-22
Number of pages22
JournalSmart Learning Environments
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2023. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • cognition
  • computational thinking
  • higher education
  • immersive virtual reality
  • mini games
  • reflective thinking
  • technology-mediated learning

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