The Perceived Complexity of Learning Tasks Influences Students’ Collaborative Interactions in Immersive Virtual Reality
This study investigated how different learning tasks influence students’ collaborative interactions in immersive Virtual Reality (iVR). A set of chemistry learning activities was designed with iVR, and 35 pairs of undergraduate students went through the activities. Videos of students’ interactions w...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2024
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100143 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94728 |
| _version_ | 1848765907038371840 |
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| author | Matovu, Henry Won, Mihye Hernandez-Alvarado, Ricardo Bruno Ungu, Dewi Ayu Kencana Treagust, David Tsai, C.C. Mocerino, Mauro Tasker, R. |
| author_facet | Matovu, Henry Won, Mihye Hernandez-Alvarado, Ricardo Bruno Ungu, Dewi Ayu Kencana Treagust, David Tsai, C.C. Mocerino, Mauro Tasker, R. |
| author_sort | Matovu, Henry |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This study investigated how different learning tasks influence students’ collaborative interactions in immersive Virtual Reality (iVR). A set of chemistry learning activities was designed with iVR, and 35 pairs of undergraduate students went through the activities. Videos of students’ interactions were analysed to identify patterns in students’ physical, conceptual, and social interactions. When students were manipulating conceptually familiar virtual objects (several water molecules), they perceived the tasks as a simple extension of prior knowledge and did not attempt to explore the 3D visualisation much. They did not move around to take different perspectives, and conceptual discussions were brief. Their prior power relations (leader–follower) carried over in iVR environments. In contrast, when conceptually unfamiliar chemical structures (protein enzyme) were displayed, students perceived the tasks as complex, demanding a new mode of learning. They spontaneously moved around to explore and appreciate the 3D visualisation of iVR. Walking to different positions to observe the virtual objects from multiple angles, students engaged in more collaborative, exploratory conceptual discussions. As the perceived complexity of learning tasks or virtual objects triggers different collaborative interactions amongst students, careful considerations need to be placed on the design of iVR tasks to encourage productive collaborative learning. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:42:42Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-94728 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:42:42Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-947282024-05-24T05:58:44Z The Perceived Complexity of Learning Tasks Influences Students’ Collaborative Interactions in Immersive Virtual Reality Matovu, Henry Won, Mihye Hernandez-Alvarado, Ricardo Bruno Ungu, Dewi Ayu Kencana Treagust, David Tsai, C.C. Mocerino, Mauro Tasker, R. This study investigated how different learning tasks influence students’ collaborative interactions in immersive Virtual Reality (iVR). A set of chemistry learning activities was designed with iVR, and 35 pairs of undergraduate students went through the activities. Videos of students’ interactions were analysed to identify patterns in students’ physical, conceptual, and social interactions. When students were manipulating conceptually familiar virtual objects (several water molecules), they perceived the tasks as a simple extension of prior knowledge and did not attempt to explore the 3D visualisation much. They did not move around to take different perspectives, and conceptual discussions were brief. Their prior power relations (leader–follower) carried over in iVR environments. In contrast, when conceptually unfamiliar chemical structures (protein enzyme) were displayed, students perceived the tasks as complex, demanding a new mode of learning. They spontaneously moved around to explore and appreciate the 3D visualisation of iVR. Walking to different positions to observe the virtual objects from multiple angles, students engaged in more collaborative, exploratory conceptual discussions. As the perceived complexity of learning tasks or virtual objects triggers different collaborative interactions amongst students, careful considerations need to be placed on the design of iVR tasks to encourage productive collaborative learning. 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94728 10.1007/s10956-024-10103-1 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100143 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP190100160 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Matovu, Henry Won, Mihye Hernandez-Alvarado, Ricardo Bruno Ungu, Dewi Ayu Kencana Treagust, David Tsai, C.C. Mocerino, Mauro Tasker, R. The Perceived Complexity of Learning Tasks Influences Students’ Collaborative Interactions in Immersive Virtual Reality |
| title | The Perceived Complexity of Learning Tasks Influences Students’ Collaborative Interactions in Immersive Virtual Reality |
| title_full | The Perceived Complexity of Learning Tasks Influences Students’ Collaborative Interactions in Immersive Virtual Reality |
| title_fullStr | The Perceived Complexity of Learning Tasks Influences Students’ Collaborative Interactions in Immersive Virtual Reality |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Perceived Complexity of Learning Tasks Influences Students’ Collaborative Interactions in Immersive Virtual Reality |
| title_short | The Perceived Complexity of Learning Tasks Influences Students’ Collaborative Interactions in Immersive Virtual Reality |
| title_sort | perceived complexity of learning tasks influences students’ collaborative interactions in immersive virtual reality |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100143 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180100143 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/94728 |