Investigating the Factor that Influences the Implementation of Virtual Reality for Science Learning

Abstract

Intensively developed virtual reality (VR) has great potential in education and can be reliably integrated into the classroom, fostering authenticity to facilitate the rapid developments in science. This research aims to investigate the factor that influence the implementation of VR and the correlation between each dimension of the technology acceptance model that can lead to intentions to use VR. The structural equation modeling is performed that was tested on participants of preservice teachers who performed simulated science explorations in the weightlessness concept. The results show that most participants believe that VR is useful in many educational contexts, including immersion, authentic learning, motivation, and engagement. Moreover, the predicted model has good explanatory power to predict intention to use VR in the classroom (R2 = 64.7%), influenced by usefulness, enjoyment, and absence of cybersickness. Educators and researchers should consider avoiding the 360-degree VR beyond the advantages of ease and economics, then adopt more comfortable and accessible graphics-based VR for implementation in the classroom, as well as the suitability of content for students to avoid any cybersickness.