Comparison of Knowledge Change in a Virtual Reality Simulation Across Four Platform Technologies

Introduction There has been an increase in the delivery of educational and training content using computer-based simulations across a range of platforms. Minimal studies have compared the effectiveness of multiple digital delivery platforms with one another using the same simulation. Objective This research investigated differences in knowledge change due to the platform used for delivery of a stand-alone learning simulation. Methods A pretest–posttest design was used to evaluate 127 participants. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: desktop, tablet, mobile VR (Google Cardboard), and virtual reality headset. A pretest was given prior to participants’ completion of a learning simulation. Upon completion of the learning simulation, participants completed a posttest. Results This study indicated that all participants improved knowledge scores across the four platforms used to deliver the learning simulation. All participants positively increased their overall scores from the pretest to the posttest. There were no statistically significant differences in knowledge change between the four groups. Conclusion All participants positively increased their overall scores from the pretest to the posttest regardless of platform technology used to deliver the virtual reality learning simulation. This indicates that it is possible to effectively deliver the same learning simulation across different platforms that include a mix of 2D and immersive technologies.