Virtual Reality Impacts on Novice Programmers' Self-Efficacy
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Updated: May 23, 2025

Virtual Reality Experiments with Physiological Measures
Published on: August 29, 2018
Abstract:
Virtual Reality has been used to improve motivation and help in the visualization of complex computing topics. However, few studies directly compared immersive and non-immersive environments. To address this limitation, we developed Abacus, a programming environment that can run in both immersive and non-immersive modes. We conducted a between-subjects study (n=40), with twenty participants assigned to the desktop mode and twenty participants assigned to the VR mode. Participants used a block-based editor to complete two programming tasks: a non-spatial procedural task, and a spatial 3D math task. We found that VR led to higher gains in self-efficacy and that the gain was significant for participants with lower initial levels of experience and spatial skills.
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