Systematic review: influences of fully immersive virtual reality on students' motivation in learning science

Yiqiao Zhang; Ha Anna Mang; Sarah Hajama; Hye-Eun Chu

doi:10.1163/23641177-bja10090

Systematic review: influences of fully immersive virtual reality on students' motivation in learning science

Yiqiao Zhang, Ha Anna Mang, Sarah Hajama, Hye-Eun Chu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

17 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Enhancing students’ motivation to learn science is crucial for fostering critical thinking and scientific reasoning and preparing a workforce equipped to meet societal and industrial demands. Fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR) has been proposed as a tool to boost student engagement and motivation in science education. However, the field lacks comprehensive reviews on its effectiveness. This systematic review analyzes 39 studies from the past decade to map the research landscape on FIVR’s influence on students’ motivation in science learning. Using VOSviewer for co-occurrence mapping and textual analysis, this study’s findings revealed that FIVR had a positive impact on motivation, self-efficacy, and interest in science learning. Despite these benefits, limitations such as low-quality simulations, small sample sizes, and methodological biases highlight the need for further research on effective learning designs and strategies, particularly in physics education.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	11-53
Number of pages	43
Journal	Asia-Pacific science education
Volume	11
Issue number	1
Early online date	24 Apr 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1163/23641177-bja10090
Publication status	Published - Jun 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2025. 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

fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR)
student motivation
science education
data visualization
systematic literature review
co-occurrence analysis
introduction

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10.1163/23641177-bja10090Licence: CC BY

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 3.58 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Systematic review: influences of fully immersive virtual reality on students' motivation in learning science",

abstract = "Enhancing students{\textquoteright} motivation to learn science is crucial for fostering critical thinking and scientific reasoning and preparing a workforce equipped to meet societal and industrial demands. Fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR) has been proposed as a tool to boost student engagement and motivation in science education. However, the field lacks comprehensive reviews on its effectiveness. This systematic review analyzes 39 studies from the past decade to map the research landscape on FIVR{\textquoteright}s influence on students{\textquoteright} motivation in science learning. Using VOSviewer for co-occurrence mapping and textual analysis, this study{\textquoteright}s findings revealed that FIVR had a positive impact on motivation, self-efficacy, and interest in science learning. Despite these benefits, limitations such as low-quality simulations, small sample sizes, and methodological biases highlight the need for further research on effective learning designs and strategies, particularly in physics education.",

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AU - Hajama, Sarah

AU - Chu, Hye-Eun

N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2025. 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.

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N2 - Enhancing students’ motivation to learn science is crucial for fostering critical thinking and scientific reasoning and preparing a workforce equipped to meet societal and industrial demands. Fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR) has been proposed as a tool to boost student engagement and motivation in science education. However, the field lacks comprehensive reviews on its effectiveness. This systematic review analyzes 39 studies from the past decade to map the research landscape on FIVR’s influence on students’ motivation in science learning. Using VOSviewer for co-occurrence mapping and textual analysis, this study’s findings revealed that FIVR had a positive impact on motivation, self-efficacy, and interest in science learning. Despite these benefits, limitations such as low-quality simulations, small sample sizes, and methodological biases highlight the need for further research on effective learning designs and strategies, particularly in physics education.

AB - Enhancing students’ motivation to learn science is crucial for fostering critical thinking and scientific reasoning and preparing a workforce equipped to meet societal and industrial demands. Fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR) has been proposed as a tool to boost student engagement and motivation in science education. However, the field lacks comprehensive reviews on its effectiveness. This systematic review analyzes 39 studies from the past decade to map the research landscape on FIVR’s influence on students’ motivation in science learning. Using VOSviewer for co-occurrence mapping and textual analysis, this study’s findings revealed that FIVR had a positive impact on motivation, self-efficacy, and interest in science learning. Despite these benefits, limitations such as low-quality simulations, small sample sizes, and methodological biases highlight the need for further research on effective learning designs and strategies, particularly in physics education.

KW - fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR)

KW - student motivation

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KW - data visualization

KW - systematic literature review

KW - co-occurrence analysis

KW - introduction

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Systematic review: influences of fully immersive virtual reality on students' motivation in learning science

Abstract

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Keywords

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