Health sciences students' perspectives on metaverse and digital technology use: cross-sectional descriptive study

Area of Science:

• Health Sciences Education
• Digital Learning Technologies
• Educational Technology

Background:

• Student attitudes significantly influence the adoption of digital innovations in education.
• Understanding student perceptions of emerging technologies is crucial for effective implementation.
• This study focuses on undergraduate health sciences students' views on the Metaverse and digital technology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess undergraduate health sciences students' awareness and perceptions of the Metaverse.
• To evaluate students' attitudes towards digital technology in an educational context.
• To explore the relationship between Metaverse awareness and attitudes toward digital technology.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional descriptive study design.
• Online data collection from 289 volunteer health sciences students.
• Statistical analysis including Independent Samples T-Test, MANOVA, and Pearson correlation.

Main Results:

• Participants demonstrated high knowledge and awareness of the Metaverse (Mean score: 53.54 ± 9.00).
• Students exhibited positive attitudes towards digital technology (Mean score: 135.98 ± 21.28).
• No significant differences in Metaverse or digital technology attitudes were found based on department or year of study.
• A weak positive correlation was observed between Metaverse Scale scores and Attitude Scale for Digital Technology scores.

Conclusions:

• Health sciences students possess high Metaverse awareness and favorable digital technology attitudes.
• Recommendations include integrating digital technologies and Metaverse platforms into undergraduate health sciences curricula.
• Virtual classroom settings utilizing Metaverse applications are suggested for enhanced learning experiences.