Background: In recent years, the use of virtual reality (VR) environments for education has gained interest in research and education. However, little is known about the potential of social VR environments for collaborative learning. Objectives: This study explores pre-service teachers' (PSTs') collaborative learning and role-based drama activity,…

Virtual contexts play a crucial role in assisting students' learning. Researchers have taken advantage of the potential of immersive virtual reality (VR) for situating students in inaccessible places, and for engaging them in learning activities. Meanwhile, several previous studies have reported that, in VR-based learning contexts, students'…

Being efficient learners is important in the modern workforce, but improved performance and cognitive load do not imply that students are efficient learners. This study investigated the effectiveness of a personalized role-playing game in students' learning efficiency (LE) and mental efficiency. Results showed that students in the personalized…

Taking advantage of our digital era commodities, a plethora of game-based learning activities and educational game genres have been introduced into numerous academic disciplines. However, research has shown that regarding mathematics the variety seems limited; especially for higher level topics, e.g. calculus, there is a lack of immersive games…

Educational systems can benefit from Virtual Reality's (VR) ability to support experiential learning. In particular, VR based games, especially role-playing serious games (RPGs), can promote learning through the simulation of various educational scenarios. This study proposes an immersive VR-RPG to educate players about the behavior of honeybees.…

Students with disabilities are being educated in the general education setting at an ever-increasing rate; therefore, it becomes imperative that educator preparation programs ensure that pre-service teachers are equipped to meet the needs of all students. Teacher education scholars have encouraged educator preparation programs to maximize the…

This mixed-method study explored the treatment integrity of virtual reality (VR)-based social skill training for children with high-functioning autism (HFA). In this study, we designed a VR-based social skills training environment using Opensimulator. Data were collected through screen recordings and behavioral observations of HFA children's…

The need for highly effective and qualified special educators continues to be a national concern. One of the primary reasons why teachers leave the profession is a lack of effective behavior management skills. Learning how to assess challenging behavior and its causes through functional analysis is one method to enhance teacher skillset in this…

Identification of reinforcers is critical to the effectiveness of behavioral interventions. Stimulus preference assessments (SPA) are a frequently used method to identify putative reinforcers. Given the fluctuating nature of individual preferences, there is need for efficient training of providers that may regularly implement SPAs. The present…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often find it difficult to communicate using body language and facial expressions to respond appropriately socially. This negatively affects the quality of their everyday social life. Children with ASD can learn to socially interact with virtual three-dimensional (3D) characters in animated games…

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of an online virtual human role-play simulation in teaching high school educators and staff to identify, talk to, and if necessary, refer students in psychological distress to support services. High school educators (N = 31,144) from 43 US states and 5 American territories completed a baseline…

Many Pre-K through grade 12 (PK-12) students have experienced traumatic events throughout the pandemic in a myriad of ways including the death of family members and peers, loss of social interaction and increased violence at home. The consequences can be traumatic and manifest themselves in fear, anxiety, anger, isolation, and loneliness. Too…

This study developed four AR games and investigated their influence on learning in a Grade 5 English course by integrating theories of digital game-based learning, the attention relevance confidence-satisfaction (ARCS) model, and different types of digital games. Moreover, the elements between AR game design and the ARCS model were examined. 147…

Background: Despite the critical role of educators as gatekeepers for school mental health services, they receive limited training to support student mental health. We report findings from a trial of an online mental health role-play simulation for elementary school teachers on changes in attitudes and self-reported helping behaviors for students…

Using the delivery of a large postgraduate distance learning module in bioethics to health professionals as an illustrative example, the type of learning activity that could be enhanced through delivery in an immersive virtual world (IVW) was explored. Several activities were repurposed from the "traditional" virtual learning environment…