Remote teaching often feels unnatural and restricted compared to on-site lectures, as traditional teaching aids are reduced to a 2D interface. The increasing adoption of VR expands online teaching platforms by offering new possibilities for educational content and enables teachers to teach more intuitively. In this paper, we introduce the tool VRTeaching, a platform designed for presenters to enable immersive lectures using VR glasses and integrated tools such as an interactive whiteboard that can display slides, built-in chat integration to enable communication, and interactivity features such as polls or audience questions. The presented study includes an expert evaluation assessing the usability and the potential of the teaching and learning platform, and an investigation of the mental demand and psychophysiological responses of teachers and students giving presentations depending on the teaching environment. The results indicate a significantly higher mental demand for the VR environment than the online environment, with no significant effects on the psychophysiological measures. Despite the increased subjective perception of mental demand, participants recognized the VR tool as having great potential.

In recent decades, computer science (CS) has undergone remarkable growth and diversification. Creating attractive, social, or hands-on games has already been identified as a possible approach to get teenagers and young adults interested in CS. However, overcoming the global gap between the interest and participation of men and women in CS is still a worldwide problem. To address this challenge, we present a multiplayer game that is used in a workshop setting to motivate girls to program through a 3D game environment. The paper aims to expand the educational landscape within computer science education by offering a motivating and engaging platform for young women to explore programming quests in a collaborative environment. The study involved 235 girls and 50 coaches for the workshop evaluation and a subset of 20 participants for an in-game analysis. In this paper, we explore the engagement in programming and assess the cognitive workload while playing and solving programming quests within the game, as well as the learning experience and the outcome. The results show that the positive outcomes of the workshop underscore the effectiveness of a game-based collaborative learning approach to get girls interested in computer science activities. The variety of solutions found for the different tasks demonstrates the creativity and problem-solving skills of the participants and underlines the effectiveness of the workshop in promoting critical thinking and computational skills.

Computer Science (CS) has experienced significant growth and diversification in recent decades. However, there is a lack of diversity in CS learning approaches. Traditional teaching methods and hands-on learning dominate this field, with limited use of playful and interactive learning methods such as educational games. This gap is particularly evident in game development as a subfield of CS. To address this problem, we present a game-based learning approach to teach foundational concepts for game development. The paper aims to expand the educational landscape within CSE, offering a unique and engaging platform for learners to explore the intricacies of game creation by integrating gamified learning strategies. In this paper, we investigate the user’s learning experience and motivation, and the differences between traditional learning and game-based learning methods for teaching game development concepts. The study involves 57 participants in an AB test to assess learners’ motivation, user experience, and learning outcomes. The results indicate a significantly increased learning outcome for the game-based learning approach, as well as higher motivation in learning game development concepts.

Digital learning experiences that promote interactive learning and engagement are becoming increasingly relevant. Educational games can be used to create an engaging learning atmosphere that allows knowledge acquisition through hands-on activities. Combining it with virtual reality (VR) allows users to interact with virtual environments, leading to a highly immersive learning experience. In this study, we explore how game achievements impact motivation and learning in a customizable VR learning environment. Using an A/B test involving 50 students, we utilized an interactive wave simulation to assess motivation, engagement, and the overall learning experience. Data collection involved standardized questionnaires, along with tracking interaction time and interactions within the virtual environment. The findings revealed that users who earned game achievements to unlock customization features felt significantly more accomplished when they mastered challenges and obtained all achievements. However, it was observed that adding achievements could also create pressure on students, leading to feelings of embarrassment when facing task failures. While achievements have the potential to enhance engagement and motivation, their excessive use may lead to distractions, anxiety, and reduced overall engagement. It shows that is crucial to find a good balance in employing game achievements within educational environments to ensure they contribute positively to the learning experience without causing undue stress or deterring learners.

Today's learning environments often involve multiple streams of information and entertainment during the learning process. Providing content via virtual reality (VR) can be used to create an isolated and engaging learning environment, in which immersion and interactivity are key factors for learning. Reducing the cognitive load in interactive VR environments by highlighting relevant material can attract the learner's attention. In this paper, we investigate the effect of isolation-based design on the learning experience in a VR-chemistry-lab environment. The lab environment includes a visualization of an interactive chemistry simulation to teach the concept of catalysis using a black box representation. Users can observe and influence the chemical reactions on different surfaces. We present an AB study with 39 participants to evaluate the users' emotions, motivation, learning experience, and outcome. The results indicate a positive effect on the learning outcomes and engage users in learning.