Who can Benefit from Immersive Virtual Reality in Education? Effectiveness of IVR in Teaching using Meta-analysis

Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) systems offer several learning affordances, that is, characteristics that can elicit learning behaviors promoting learning effects in educational contexts. In particular, the immersive and interactive properties of these systems represent a strong opportunity to support the effective learning effect. A systematic analyze was carried out on the literature published between 2014 and 2020 using meta-analysis. forty-five randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-experimental studies were identified. We conducted an analysis using the random effects model (REM) to calculate the pooled effect size. The studies were also coded to examine the moderating effects of their characteristics, such as school level, learning effect, subject, control group treatment and learning duration, on the outcome measure. Comprehensive research results show that IVR can support a number of activities and experiences that in turn improve learning and motivate students to fulfill educational goals by eliciting their interest and engagement with the learning materials. The main advantage of IVR seems related to the possibility for users to have first-hand experiences that would not be possible in the real world, simultaneously offering unique opportunities for experiential and situated learning, as well as promoting students' motivation and engagement.