Incorporating a Generative Learning Activity During Learning a Procedural Skill in Immersive Virtual Reality

This study examined whether answering focused explanative questions during pauses in an immersive virtual reality (IVR) lesson on pipetting procedures could enhance learning. The goal was to take a generative learning activity, known to be effective for declarative knowledge with conventional media, to the context of procedural knowledge with immersive media. College students with limited pipetting experience were instructed on how to use pipettes in IVR, carried out a serial dilution task in IVR using virtual pipettes, followed by an in-person serial dilution task using real pipettes, and took a test of their knowledge about pipetting. Students in the explanation group were asked to remove their head-mounted display and type responses to explanative questions during five pauses in the IVR lesson, while those in the no explanation group continued the lesson without pausing. The explanation and no explanation groups did not differ significantly in performance on the virtual or in-person serial dilution tasks, or on the knowledge test. The results highlight the challenges of transferring generative learning strategies, successful in teaching declarative knowledge, to the understudied domain of procedural knowledge in immersive environments. It appears that the logistics of the generative learning activity may have caused distraction.