Emotional Contagion in Collaborative Virtual Reality Learning Experiences: An eSports Approach

Emotional contagion is an intriguing subject in many academic fields, and it is also relevant in collaborative learning where learners share a physical or virtual space. We aimed at exploring the possibilities of motivating, fascinating, and experiential elements of virtual reality (VR) in a collabo...

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Published in:EDUCATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES Vol. 28; no. 11; pp. 15317 - 15363
Main Authors: Dirin, Amir, Nieminen, Marko, Laine, Teemu H., Nieminen, Lassi, Ghalebani, Leila
Format: Journal Article Publication
Language:English
Published: New York Springer US 01.11.2023
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Adults
Analysis
Athletics
Audiences
Coding
Collaborative learning
College Freshmen
Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Computer Science
Computer Simulation
Computers and Education
Cooperative Learning
Education
Educational Technology
Esports
Group work in education
Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet)
Interviews
Learning Experience
Psychological Patterns
Semi Structured Interviews
Social aspects
Teaching Methods
Team learning approach in education
User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction
Virtual reality
Finland
eSports
Virtual reality
Emotional engagement
User experience design
Feelings of being
Emotional contagion
Collaborative learning
ISSN:1360-2357, 1573-7608
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Summary:Emotional contagion is an intriguing subject in many academic fields, and it is also relevant in collaborative learning where learners share a physical or virtual space. We aimed at exploring the possibilities of motivating, fascinating, and experiential elements of virtual reality (VR) in a collaborative learning context, with a focus on emotional contagion. We adopted the eSports mode as a competency development strategy in collaborative learning, using VR to evaluate emotional contagion that is invoked between the presenters and spectators. For this purpose, we created a VR application (HHVR) that allows freshmen students to learn about the premises and academic life at a university. We then divided 43 adult participants into presenters ( N  = 9) and spectators ( N  = 34); the presenters experienced the HHVR application first-hand, whereas the spectators watched the experience through a monitor. We used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to measure what feelings of being — existential feelings that affect the way we react to the world — the participants experienced. The collected data were analyzed by Principal Component Analysis and qualitative data coding and the results revealed emotional contagion; the spectators who followed the presenters on a monitor showed similar emotional engagement with the presenters who used the application. In conclusion, the proposed eSports mode can be a useful pedagogical technique in the context of collaborative learning with VR, as it engages emotionally both the presenters and spectators. These findings can be helpful for designing emotionally engaging collaborative learning experiences with VR and for conducting group-based UX evaluations of VR applications.
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ISSN:1360-2357
1573-7608
DOI:10.1007/s10639-023-11769-7