Learning via Virtual and Real Museums: A Comparative Study on Presence and Retention

The aim of study is to compare the contributions of virtual and real museum tours in terms of perceived presence and knowledge retention. The sample of study which was 28 third graders enrolled in a public primary school in an informal instructional process. There were two groups (virtual group and real group); one visited virtual museum (n=14), and the other (n=14) visited real one. Semi-structured interview form and student drawings were used to discuss students' evaluations about two environments. The results suggested that students who have attended virtual museum tour remember much more about the events and objects than students who have visited real museum tour. Students who attended virtual museum tours had perceived presence mostly as much as and in some cases, more than the real group students. Implementations for designing virtual and real museums for feeling more presence and contributing to knowledge retention are also included.