The impact of an immersive virtual reality anatomy lab for informal science education

The use of virtual reality (VR) in anatomy education enables interactive exploration of the human body and can overcome challenges in informal education settings, such as access to donated human remains and spatial understanding of 3D structures. This study explored how individual factors-such as spatial ability, visual imagery skills, and susceptibility to cybersickness-affected high school-aged (15-18 years old) learners' experiences and perceived effectiveness of a VR anatomy lab as a learning tool. Results showed that learners with higher visual imagery skills (visualizers) report a statistically greater sense of relevance and satisfaction when learning anatomy using VR. Those parameters are reported to be less statistically significant by those with stronger mental rotation skills (rotators) who perceive VR as less beneficial. Overall, learners find VR engaging and effective for learning, with positive correlations observed between the perceived quality of the VR experience reported by the learners and the learners' motivation to learn, attention, confidence, satisfaction, and potential positive impact on their education (p < 0.05). However, both cognitive load and symptoms of cybersickness, while rare in this study population, were negatively correlated with the sense of relevance and confidence (p < 0.05). Our findings support the use of VR as a complementary tool in informal science education, particularly for those with diverse learning needs. Results also indicate that exposure to the VR anatomy lab positively influences learners' perceptions of career opportunities in STEAM, particularly in technology-enhanced fields such as medical imaging and surgical simulation, inspiring interest in fields they had not previously considered.