Publication Date

Spring 2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

David Schuster; Christina Tzeng; Gregory Feist

Abstract

Students often struggle with learning challenging subjects throughout their education. This also tends to lead to lower enjoyment and science self-efficacy for learning. Some subjects may be better represented in 3-dimensional spaces utilizing immersive virtual reality (IVR). Recently, IVR headsets have become more accessible and affordable and therefore are in wider use. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether differences in science selfefficacy, enjoyment, presence and knowledge retention exist between IVR and controls on an ocean acidification lesson. I predicted that participants taking the lesson in IVR would score higher compared to a laptop on all measures, due to the immersive properties of IVR. The following study recruited 127 undergraduate students to either complete the lesson in IVR or on a laptop. In our sample, results showed a significant effect on presence (p < .001, η² = .21) and procedural knowledge retention (p < .001, η² = .09) for the IVR group. However, there was no significant effect of enjoyment (η² < .001) or science self-efficacy (η² = .004). This work suggests that students who learn in immersive virtual reality have a higher sense of presence and learn content better compared to traditional means of learning.

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