The Impact of Web‐Based 360° Virtual Laboratory on Cognitive Load, Emotional Patterns and Visual Attention.
Background: Web‐based 360° virtual laboratory environments, also known as virtual laboratories, have become increasingly popular in laboratory education due to improved learning experiences, flexibility, accessibility and scalability. Objectives: This study investigated how a web‐based 360° virtual...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 42; no. 2; pp. 1 - 19 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | equations & formulas pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Wiley-Blackwell
Apr2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=192476930&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 192476930 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 02664909 6M1 jtl: Journal of Computer Assisted Learning issn: 02664909 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 42 iid: 2 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 192476930 192476930 192476930 10.1002/jcal.70224 192476930 ppf: 1 ppct: 18 formats: tig: atl: The Impact of Web‐Based 360° Virtual Laboratory on Cognitive Load, Emotional Patterns and Visual Attention. aug: au: Girmay, Samuel Mendoza‐Franco, Gloria Cardoso, Luísa Jääskeläinen, Iiro P. Kauppinen, Tomi Nygren, Amanda Sclearuc, Marius Sjöholm, Tilda Karttunen, Antti J. affil: Department of Chemistry and Materials Science, Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering, Espoo, Finland sug: subj: Visual Perception Emotions Cognition World Wide Web Learning Laboratories Attention Human Funding Source Male Female Adolescence Adult Descriptive Statistics Mann-Whitney U Test Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test Questionnaires Regression Data Analysis Software Academic Performance Adolescent: 13-18 years Adult: 19-44 years Male Female ab: Background: Web‐based 360° virtual laboratory environments, also known as virtual laboratories, have become increasingly popular in laboratory education due to improved learning experiences, flexibility, accessibility and scalability. Objectives: This study investigated how a web‐based 360° virtual laboratory impacts students' cognitive load, visual attention and emotional responses when studying a laboratory experiment. Methods: Participants were 80 Finnish‐speaking students who studied identical laboratory experiment slideshow content either with the web‐based 360° virtual laboratory or, in the control condition, with the same content presented against a black background instead of 360° images. Exam score, perceived learning performance, emotional responses and eye‐tracking metrics such as fixation, saccades and gaze entropy were used in the analysis. Results and Conclusions: Although no significant differences emerged in exam scores or self‐reported learning outcomes, students using the virtual laboratory showed longer fixations and more dynamic saccades, indicating increased sustained and exploratory visual attention. Emotional measures suggested a calmer emotional state in the virtual laboratory group, pointing to a more comfortable user experience. Importantly, the virtual environment did not increase cognitive load. The results indicate that virtual laboratories may enhance attentional engagement and promote a more positive user experience without significantly imposing additional cognitive load. For educators and instructional designers, the results highlight how accessible web‐based tools can improve pre‐laboratory preparation and support student focus, offering scalable and practical alternatives to more resource‐intensive immersive technologies. Lay Summary: What is currently known about this topic? ○Fully immersive VR can improve skills but may increase cognitive load.○Web‐based 360° virtual laboratories offer accessible learning alternatives.○Eye‐tracking helps measure visual attention and cognitive processes.○Virtual laboratories might reduce anxiety and support engagement in learning.What does this paper add? ○Web‐based 360° laboratories increase sustained and exploratory attention.○Emotional responses indicate a calmer experience in virtual laboratories.○Virtual laboratories do not increase cognitive load during learning tasks.○Combines eye‐tracking and behavioural data under realistic conditions.Implications for practice or policy ○Web‐based virtual laboratories engage students without additional mental strain.○Improved user experience can enhance science education outcomes.○Educators can integrate these web‐based 360° virtual laboratories into a course as a pre‐assignment to promote focus and engagement.○Exam scores alone may underestimate virtual laboratory, as benefits appear in attention and emotion. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: equations & formulas pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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