Abstract Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) is in its early days of educational adoption. This research aims to explain the benefits of VR in transforming learning and student experiences in classrooms. The experiment involved students using an educational VR experience that features an immersive narrative that puts students in the centre of a historical moment in World War Two. Two separate studies were conducted. One with high school students in Australia who would normally be studying the topic. And the other, University students in India, with no prior knowledge or awareness of the topic. Student participants used one of two different versions of Kokoda VR; six-degrees of freedom virtual reality or 360° video. Both the university and high school students using the virtual reality condition reported higher engagement, presence, empathy and better knowledge mastery than the 360° video groups. These features were also slightly higher in the university student group than in the high school student group except for the knowledge mastery where the high school students performed better. These findings indicate there is potential for immersive narrative VR experiences to provide students with new experiences and provide both cognitive and affective benefits.

中文翻译：

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沉浸式大学和高中生在使用虚拟现实技术的教育线性叙事中的影响

摘要 沉浸式虚拟现实 (VR) 正处于教育采用的早期阶段。本研究旨在解释 VR 在改变课堂学习和学生体验方面的好处。该实验涉及学生使用教育性 VR 体验，该体验具有沉浸式叙事，将学生置于第二次世界大战历史时刻的中心。进行了两项独立的研究。其中一位是澳大利亚的高中生，他们通常会研究该主题。另一个是印度的大学生，对这个话题没有任何先验知识或意识。学生参与者使用了两个不同版本的 Kokoda VR 之一；六自由度虚拟现实或 360° 视频。使用虚拟现实条件的大学和高中学生都报告了更高的参与度、存在感、同理心和比 360° 视频组更好的知识掌握。这些特征在大学生组中也略高于高中生组，除了高中生在知识掌握方面表现更好。这些发现表明沉浸式叙事 VR 体验有潜力为学生提供新的体验，并提供认知和情感方面的好处。