IMMERSIVE LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY: XR’S ROLE IN HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

The increasing demand for sustainability competences and digital skills in engineering and management fields necessitates innovative educational approaches. Pacher’s competence study identified significant deficits in sustainability and digital literacy among Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) professionals. This underscores the need for integrating technology-enhanced learning in higher education to better equip students for the challenges of sustainable development and digital transformation. This research explores the implementation of Extended Reality, like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), technologies in higher education, with a specific focus on hydrogen technologies (production, storage, and application). The core hypothesis is that immersive learning experiences using XR-based educational modules will lead to a significant improvement in both sustainability and digital competences among students. The study design builds upon insights from MireBooks, a prior research initiative demonstrating that XR-supported education enhances cognitive processing, engagement, and comprehension of complex technical concepts. By leveraging these findings, this paper extends the application of XR into sustainability education, specifically in the context of hydrogen technologies. The technical setup and the methodological-didactical approach of the educational module will be presented. Moreover, the assessment method for the empirical validation through the usage of pre- and post-assessment tools to empirically measure competence development, which is not yet systematically implemented as a state-of-the-art method in engineering education. Expected outcomes include empirical validation of XR-enhanced education as an effective method for developing sustainability and digital competences. The project aims to establish scalable, evidence-based learning models that can be integrated into higher education curricula globally, thus contributing to closing a critical research-practice gap and represents a forward-looking model for fostering sustainability-oriented competences through digital, problem-based learning strategies in higher education.