Psychophysiological Approaches to Instructional Design for Immersive Environments

Abstract

As part of the Digital Learning Environment federal project, school education programs in Russia are expected to implement modern technology, including virtual and augmented reality. The integration of immersive technology in education should be based on research findings about the influence of virtual environments on learning effectiveness. Specific aspects of immersive technology include the sense of presence, interactivity, social interaction and multisensory stimulation, which cumulatively exert quite a controversial influence on learning experience and outcomes. Since little data is available, instructional design decisions are often based on practical or economic considerations. Therefore, it has become vitally important to use objective methods in assessing the learning content in order to understand its effects on the learner’s cognitive and emotional processes immediately involved in the perception and digestion of educational material. Evaluation of virtual learning content in the process of its design and integration is suggested to be based on such parameters as presence, cognitive load, emotional response, social interaction, and the risks of experiencing cybersickness symptoms. Analysis of literature and the resulting structured set of methodological tools will aid further studies in the field that use psychophysiological research methods to design effective learning content in virtual reality environments.