Publications
Towards Effective Collaborative Learning in Edu-Metaverse: A Study on Learners’ Anxiety, Perception, and Behaviour
Yufei Lu, Ye Jia, Guang Chen, Yao Wang, Peter H. F. Ng, Laura Zhou, Qing Li, Chen Li
Proceedings of the International Conference on Web-based Learning (ICWL) 2024 (2024)
In the evolving landscape of educational technology, EduMetaverse presents a unique technological platform for collaborative learning (CL), which can be especially useful in distance learning settings. Researchers have taken a keen interest in the potential of Edu-Metaverse for enabling and improving CL; however, the effects of various factors on CL behaviours and performance still need to be fully understood. This study used a within-subjects design involving 32 participants (16 females and 16 males) to investigate how learners’ attributes and environmental attributes affect CL in Edu-Metaverse. The participants were randomly assigned to groups of four for a CL session in Edu-Metaverse. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that various behavioural metrics in Edu-Metaverse mediated the effects of trait anxiety and virtual space satisfaction on CL performance; perceived understanding of messages, under the umbrella of social presence, also had a direct effect on CL performance. These insights underscore the importance of optimising interactive, perceptual, and social components to make CL more effective in Edu-Metaverse.