Biology Faculty Articles
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2023
Publication Title
International Journal of Distance Education Technologies
Keywords
Health Professions Student Learning and Engagement, Immersive Learning, Virtual Classroom
ISSN
1539-3100
Volume
21
Issue/No.
1
First Page
1
Last Page
19
Abstract
Guided by constructivist theory, this study examines health professions student learning and engagement in the virtual classroom (VC) setting. Students (N=52) participated in a one-week VC prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. After participation, students were surveyed to discern their impressions of the experience, including the administration of a presence questionnaire, a key indicator of virtual environment (VE) efficacy. High student presence scores were significantly correlated with the perception that the VC facilitated learning (r = .573, p = .001). Conversely, students who perceived the course content as challenging were less likely to recommend the VC as a viable alternative learning platform. Furthermore, in terms of presence, undergraduate and graduate students were not significantly different. In summary, health professions students view immersive technologies favorably and may benefit from using such platforms as alternative or supplemental learning tools regardless of their academic level.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
NSUWorks Citation
Cavanaugh, Gesulla; Helen M. Condry; Clarissa Frances Afable; Melissa Morris; Santanu De; Holly Evans Madison; Jacqueline Marshall; Chitra Paul Victor; and Marsha Weiner. 2023. "Immersive Learning and Participatory Engagement: Connecting in the Online Classroom Through Virtual Reality." International Journal of Distance Education Technologies 21, (1): 1-19. doi:10.4018/IJDET.317364.
ORCID ID
0000-0002-9739-4039
ResearcherID
L-6078-2019
DOI
10.4018/IJDET.317364
Comments
This research was supported by the NSU Health Profession Division Grant [grant number 334510].