Cognitive Performance in Virtual and Physical Classrooms: Are They Comparable?: Fid-Bau Portal

Cognitive Performance in Virtual and Physical Classrooms: Are They Comparable?

Higuera-Trujillo, Juan Luis / Nolé, María Luisa / Llinares, Carmen

Online teaching has seen a global increase in recent years. Different approaches have been addressed in this process: from 2D platforms to 3D virtual simulations. These advanced virtual methods aim to mirror physical teaching experiences but require extensive technology inputs from the organization providing the content (who needs to elaborate interfaces and virtual spaces) and the student (who needs specific hardware). However, the effectiveness of 3D virtual classrooms in stimulating students’ cognitive performance is unknown. The present experience studied the comparison (validity) of student performance in physical and virtual classrooms of architecture and building engineering. For this purpose, 132 university students participated in a field study in which they were immersed in a real physical classroom or a virtual classroom. During this immersion, they performed psychological tasks to quantify attention and memory performance. In addition, during this time, the students’ physiological activity (skin conductance and heart rate) was recorded. The results show a similar performance in physical and virtual classrooms. Also, physiological activity was similar in both types of classrooms. The conclusions may be of interest for researchers interested in the study of cognitive processes using virtual reality and for those responsible for the management and production of virtual training content. Furthermore, it can be useful as a space management tool for both teachers and designers: it allows a controlled design of classrooms (like arrangement of furniture, color of walls, or interior lighting, among others) that can then be applied to real classrooms.