Re-Experiencing vs. Self-Explaining: Comparing Generative Learning Activities in VR

Reviewing recordings of one’s past performances has long been used as an instructional technique to support reflection and skill development. This article reconceptualizes learning from recordings as a generative learning activity (GLA) that we term re-experiencing. Specifically, we build on the generative sense-making framework to conceptualize re-experiencing, with a focus on implementing re-experiencing in immersive virtual reality (VR). While GLAs have generally been shown to be effective, there is limited research comparing different GLAs in terms of their effects on distinct learning outcomes. To address this gap, we compared re-experiencing to an existing GLA: self-explaining. We tested both activities in VR, using a simulation on how to use a pipette to conduct a serial dilution. In a pre-registered between-subjects experiment with 161 high school students in an authentic setting, we found evidence that the combination of corrective feedback and GLAs improved educational outcomes compared to the lesson alone, both for self-explaining and re-experiencing students. Specifically, we observed significant improvements in safety behavior, the number of dexterity mistakes made, and self-efficacy. Additionally, we found evidence that self-explaining led to significantly better performance on a written post-test of procedural knowledge. In conclusion, both GLAs led to notable improvements in measured outcomes, while differences between them were more modest and outcome-specific. Future research may explore ways to enhance re-experiencing as a GLA further and compare it to other GLAs in terms of different learning outcomes, to investigate whether there are unique benefits associated with re-experiencing.