VR-Based Context Priming to Increase Student Engagement and Academic Performance

Research suggests that virtual environments can be designed to increase engagement and performance on many cognitive tasks. This paper compares the effect of specifically designed 3D environments intended to Prime these effects within Virtual Reality (VR). A 27-minute seminar “The Creative Process of Making an Animated Movie” was presented to 51 participants within three VR learning spaces: two Prime and one No Prime. The Prime conditions included two situated learning environments; an animation studio and a theatre with animation artifacts vs. the No Prime: theatre without artifacts. A 20-question multiple-choice content test, User Experience (UX), and affective (anxiety and positive affect) surveys were completed prior to and immediately after the learning session. Increased academic performance was observed in both Prime conditions compared to the control. UX and affective surveys related to the immersive VR experience were positive, but there were no significant differences observed between the Prime and No Prime conditions in either case.