Exploring the Unique Effects of Virtual and Mixed Reality on Students’ Science Learning Intentions

Abstract: While the application of virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) technologies to enhance learning motivation in science education remains a hot topic that garners significant interest from scholars, there is a paucity of studies addressing whether and how VR or MR may be more effective in motivating students’ learning intention. Accordingly, the current study investigates the distinctive effects of VR and MR on students’ learning intention through the theoretical lenses of plausibility illusion and enjoyment. Employing a within-subject design experiment ( N = 71), the current research explores whether and how the learning experience of the solar system, either via VR or MR headsets, may impact students’ intention to learn using VR or MR. We posited that the sense of plausibility illusion and enjoyment will serially mediate the impact of XR modality (VR vs. MR) on students’ learning intention. Results from a two-condition within-subjects mediation analysis confirmed the significant mediating effects of plausibility illusion and enjoyment on the relationship between XR modality and learning intention. By exploring the differences in the structural affordances of VR and MR technologies, this study provides insights into understanding the distinctive roles of VR and MR technologies on students’ learning intentions.