Direct and Indirect Effects of Virtual Reality Usage Toward Learning Performance Perception: A Case Study of Thai Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) has been used in diverse industries as a technological tool to improve communication. Many firms use VR to fulfill their purposes. In the educational field, VR technology has been used to improve educational outcomes, and many schools use VR as a learning tool. Previous studies found positive relationship between VR usage and learning experience. However, the details regarding this relationship are still unknown. The current study aims to find the direct and indirect benefits of familiarity with VR usage and the moderation effect of perception of VR as a learning tool. There were 431 respondents from undergraduates in two universities in Thailand that provided data through online questionnaires, using the multi-stage cluster random sampling method. The moderated mediator regression analysis was used to analyze the mechanism regarding the direct and indirect effects of VR usage. The empirical results show that familiarity with VR usage has both direct and indirect effects on learning performance in a positive way. Moreover, perception of VR usage as a learning tool acts as a moderator that increases the effect of VR usage as well as learning performance. The conclusion and limitations of this study are also discussed