Research involving almost 300 secondary school students has shown that while the use of Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) can increase student enjoyment and engagement in the learning task, when used on its own it may not be the most effective tool for improving outcomes like declarative and procedural knowledge. The study’s findings are shared in a paper published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, authored by Guido Makransky, Niels K Andreasen and Sarune Baceviciute from the University of Copenhagen and Richard E Mayer, from the University of California, Santa Barbara. ‘We conducted the study because there was existing evidence that IVR simulations lead to better learning outcomes specifically when students have the opportunity to reflect over the content,’ lead author Guido Makransky, tells Teacher. The impact of virtual reality and video use in the classroom The study was comprised of two experiments that were conducted with the participating students. In the first experiment, 131 students were involved. They were randomly allocated to one of two groups: the first group used VR headsets to experience a science simulation that involved forensic analysis of a collected DNA sample in a virtual laboratory environment, and the second group instead watched a video presenting the same forensic analysis procedure. ‘Immediately after the learning experience, students in both groups were given the post-test …The post-test included scales to investigate students’ self-reported perceived enjoyment and presence, as well as tests of declarative and procedural knowledge,’ the journal paper reads. ‘The declarative knowledge test included 19 multiple-choice questions and included conceptual and factual knowledge questions related to the information presented in the simulation or video … The procedural knowledge test included three open-ended questions (e.g., “Describe in steps how to use a pipette to prepare laboratory samples. Mention as many steps as possible.”)’. The results of this post-test show that students who participated in the IVR activity reported higher levels of enjoyment than those who watched the video. However, participation in the IVR activity did not increase their knowledge of the forensic analysis procedure. Using virtual reality in conjunction with other learning activities The second experiment, involving 156 students, was conducted to investigate the impact of IVR on student outcomes when used in conjunction with what the researchers call a generative learning activity. In this case, the generative learning activity was an enactment activity, which involved using physical props to re-create the laboratory analysis the students just learned about. ‘The main purpose of adding a generative learning strategy to a lesson is to stimulate learners to reflect and integrate prior knowledge with the learning material, thereby helping the learner to construct a more meaningful mental representation of the material,’ they write. ‘This is particularly relevant for IVR, as these lessons can be highly engaging but can cognitively overload learners, thereby limiting their ability to properly reflect and self-regulate during a lesson.’ Students were randomly allocated to one of four groups for this experiment: use of IVR; use of IVR and participation in an enactment opportunity; watching a video; and watching a video before participating in an enactment opportunity. After participating in the learning activity, students completed a post-test similar to the one used in the first experiment. The results of this post-test showed that, similar to experiment one, student self-perceived enjoyment of and presence in the activity was higher for students who used IVR. While the inclusion of the enactment activity did not seem to improve declarative knowledge, it was found that participation in the enactment activity had a greater effect on procedural knowledge when learning in IVR than by video. ‘This is a major new finding in this experiment, and indicates that enactment can improve procedural knowledge, only when learning through IVR,’ the paper reads. Improving learning outcomes using virtual reality ‘IVR can provide students with a very emotionally rich and engaging learning experience. This almost always increases student interest and enjoyment, but it does not necessarily lead to better learning outcomes unless students have the opportunity to reflect over the emotionally rich and engaging experience,’ Makransky tells Teacher. ‘The overall implications are that teachers should provide students with initial learning experiences and enough prior knowledge so students have fundamental knowledge and have enough familiarity with the technology prior to an IVR lesson,’ he explains. ‘Then use IVR for exploration opportunities where students can obtain learning experiences that are too expensive, dangerous, or impossible in the real world. Then follow this up with a reflection activity. This does not necessarily have to be enactment. We have successfully used different generative strategies after an IVR lesson such as summarisation in groups (Klingenberg et al., 2020).’ References Klingenberg, S., Jørgensen, M. L. M., Dandanell, G., Skriver, K., Mottelson, A., Makransky G. (2020). Investigating the Effect of Teaching as a General Learning Strategy when Learning through Desktop and Immersive VR: A Media and Methods Experiment. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(6), 2115-2138. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13029 Makransky, G., Andreasen, N. K., Baceviciute, S., & Mayer, R. E. (2021). Immersive virtual reality increases liking but not learning with a science simulation and generative learning strategies promote learning in immersive virtual reality. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(4), 719–735. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000473 If you have you used virtual reality with your students, did you measure the impact this tool had on their learning? What considerations did you make to ensure the tool was used most effectively to improve student outcomes? Did you provide initial learning experiences to build their prior knowledge before moving to virtual reality?

SMA Lokon St. Nikolaus Tomohon is a private boarding school, established by Mr. Ronald Korompis and his wife Mary Wewengkang. It is located in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The school has 344 students and all of them stay in a dormitory. They come from various parts of Indonesia, bringing their unique customs and cultures. SMA Lokon runs a national curriculum, K-13 combined with “The Life Based Curriculum” developed by the school. The school’s motto is Veritas, Virtus, and Fides, Latin for Truth, Virtue, and Faith. Character development is a main focus of SMA Lokon. Living in a dormitory is quite challenging for them. They need to adjust to many things, such as waking up at 4.30 am, cleaning the room, studying at school from 6.45 am to 3 pm, still having to join extracurricular activities until 5 pm, and personal study at 5.30 pm to 7 pm in the dormitory. This routine takes place from Monday to Friday. Students can only go home twice a month during weekends or school holidays. There is a complex process which each year level goes through during each year of their schooling. In this article, I will focus on Year 12 students. As they are in their final year of school, they have to work on and pass the final school’s assessment, choose a major in university, as well as complete the application and undergo the entrance test. They also often have to navigate the challenges of having differing opinions to their parents about their next steps after high school. These circumstances put a lot of pressure on them. Some students intentionally come late to school, some students skip classes, some break uniform rules. Discussion among the teachers about students’ decreased motivation during classes has become a daily topic. Students saying that they are bored, stressed, confused and that they need guidance and refreshment, were the motivation behind the Retreat Program. It is an annual program for the Year 12 students before the final school’s assessment. The program is organised by guidance and counselling teachers in collaboration with religion teachers and dormitory staff. It is aimed to help students renew their motivation by getting some insights and inspiration from the Retreat’s facilitators, teachers, alumni, and their friends about how to end high school successfully, how to anticipate their difficulties, and how to be prepared for university life. SMA Lokon usually runs the Retreat program in Alamanda Retreat house owned by Mr. Ronald Korompis. It is located on Mahawu mountain a few kilometers from school. Students, facilitators, teachers, and dormitory’s staff stay overnight. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest program was held only in the school. The activities fall into two categories. The first is spiritual activities, such as worship, in which students sing and pray together, bible teachings facilitated by a priest, students sharing their faith experiences with one another, and reflection and self-reconciliation through an adoration to the Holy Sacrament and Eucharistic Prayer. The second is character and community building such as games, discussion, and reflection. Students are divided into 10 groups. The first thing they have to do is create a group song and perform it. After that, each group will go to the game stations with eyes covered by a piece of cloth. They walk in line by holding each other’s shoulders, and the student in the front line will lead them to the game’s station. There are 10 stations, and each station has a game or a quiz. Each group will try to collect points and those who get the highest points are winners. A facilitator usually prepares a fun game that students will really enjoy, for example, a fighting over seats game. This game is played by 2 groups. Some chairs are put on the circle, music is playing, and students are dancing around the chairs. Once the music stops, students rush to sit on chairs. Each group will try their best to win the seats and get points. At the end of the game, a facilitator will ask each group about what values they learnt through that activity. Students discuss it in their groups and explain it in front of everyone around. Here students like to mention the value of collaboration, discipline, resilience, friendship etcetera. There were 103 students at the most recent Retreat and half of them were able to respond to the post-Retreat survey. Most of the students gave four stars on average. It means the Retreat program was useful for them. After this program, students go back to their routine in school. They have renewed spirit and motivation as they do their best to complete their schooling. On May 5, 2022 they received the news that all students in their cohort had successfully graduated from high school.