Metaverse-Based Self-Regulated Learning in Nursing Dietary Education: Effects on Learning Achievement, Self-Efficacy, Critical Thinking Awareness, and Behavioral Patterns

A central goal of foundational dietary education is to enhance nursing students’ learning achievement, self-efficacy, and critical thinking awareness. However, providing personalized guidance in conventional instructional settings remains challenging. To address these limitations, the present study introduces a structured metaverse-based self-regulated learning framework designed to promote personalized, immersive, and contextually rich learning experiences in dietary education. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 44 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in an introductory course on cancer-preventive dietary practices. Participants were assigned to either a metaverse-based self-regulated learning condition (experimental group) or a conventional 2D video-based instruction condition (control group). Findings indicate that students in the metaverse-based condition demonstrated significantly higher levels of learning achievement, self-efficacy, and critical thinking awareness than peers in the conventional instruction group. Exploratory behavioral analyses of the 22 experimental-group participants, categorized by a median split, suggested that learners with higher critical thinking awareness exhibited more structured, reflective, and proactive learning patterns, whereas those with lower awareness relied more on feedback-dependent strategies. Overall, metaverse-based self-regulated learning enhanced learning achievement, self-efficacy, and critical thinking awareness, while providing preliminary insights into learners’ behavioral patterns in nursing education.