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Cited by 3,585Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsAugmented Reality ApplicationsEducation and Learning Interventions

A systematic review of immersive virtual reality applications for higher education: Design elements, lessons learned, and research agenda

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Radianti, Jaziar, Majchrzak, Tim A., Fromm, Jennifer, Wohlgenannt, Isabell·2020·Computers & Education
DOI 10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103778
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Abstract

Researchers have explored the benefits and applications of virtual reality (VR) in different scenarios. VR possesses much potential and its application in education has seen much research interest lately. However, little systematic work currently exists on how researchers have applied immersive VR for higher education purposes that considers the usage of both high-end and budget head-mounted displays (HMDs). Hence, we propose using systematic mapping to identify design elements of existing research dedicated to the application of VR in higher education. The reviewed articles were acquired by extracting key information from documents indexed in four scientific digital libraries, which were filtered systematically using exclusion, inclusion, semi-automatic, and manual methods. Our review emphasizes three key points: the current domain structure in terms of the learning contents, the VR design elements, and the learning theories, as a foundation for successful VR-based learning. The mapping was conducted between application domains and learning contents and between design elements and learning contents. Our analysis has uncovered several gaps in the application of VR in the higher education sphere—for instance, learning theories were not often considered in VR application development to assist and guide toward learning outcomes. Furthermore, the evaluation of educational VR applications has primarily focused on usability of the VR apps instead of learning outcomes and immersive VR has mostly been a part of experimental and development work rather than being applied regularly in actual teaching. Nevertheless, VR seems to be a promising sphere as this study identifies 18 application domains, indicating a better reception of this technology in many disciplines. The identified gaps point toward unexplored regions of VR design for education, which could motivate future work in the field.

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  • The development of AI-powered AR/VR applications can provide students with access to simulations and virtual environments, enabling them to acquire practical skills and knowledge in various disciplines.

    “The development of AI-powered AR/VR applications can also provide students with access to simulations and virtual environments, enabling them to acquire practical skills and knowledge in various disciplines [105].”

    From New Era of Artificial Intelligence in Education: Towards a Sustainable Multifaceted Revolution (2023) · cites this paper as [105]

    Sections 5.6 and 6.1 describe immersive VR applications used to teach practical skills and knowledge across disciplines, including nursing, surgery and astronomy. The paper does not establish that these applications are AI-powered or that its findings extend to AR applications; section 6.1 also notes that few studies evaluated learning outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Practical simulations benefit students by preparing them for practical experiences.

    “Beyond the Longevity Games, practical simulations benefit students by preparing students for practical experiences (17–19).”

    From Using generative AI for interview simulations to enhance student research skills in biology education (2025) · cites this paper as [19]

  • VR applications yield moderate to significant gains in knowledge acquisition and student motivation across disciplines.

    “A systematic review found that such VR applications yield moderate to significant gains in knowledge acquisition and student motivation across disciplines (Radianti et al., 2020).”

    From Intelligent Immersion: AI and VR Tools for Next-Generation Higher Education (2026) · cites this paper as Radianti et al., 2020

  • Researchers often prioritise how easy the technology is to use or how many features the app has instead of checking if students actually learn.

    “Instead of checking if students actually learn, researchers often prioritise how easy the technology is to use or how many features the app has (Radianti et al., 2020).”

    From Intelligent Immersion: AI and VR Tools for Next-Generation Higher Education (2026) · cites this paper as Radianti et al., 2020

  • Virtual reality environments consistently lead to improvements in knowledge acquisition, motivation, and retention across various fields, such as medicine, engineering, and the arts.

    “Systematic reviews, including those by Radianti et al. (2020), show that virtual reality environments consistently lead to improvements in knowledge acquisition, motivation, and retention across various fields, such as medicine, engineering, and the arts.”

    From Intelligent Immersion: AI and VR Tools for Next-Generation Higher Education (2026) · cites this paper as Radianti et al. (2020)

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Authors
Radianti, J., Majchrzak, T. A., Fromm, J., & Wohlgenannt, I.
Affiliations
  • University of Agder (NO)
  • University of Duisburg-Essen (DE)
  • University of Liechtenstein (LI)
Corresponding author
Majchrzak, Tim A.
ORCID
Venue
Computers & Education
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-04
Volume
147
Pages
103778
ISSN
0360-1315 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103778
OpenAlex
W2995065029
Cited by
3,585
References
16
Citations by year
2026: 926 · 2025: 716 · 2024: 602 · 2023: 544 · 2022: 430 · 2021: 261 · 2020: 100 · 2019: 4 · 2013: 2
FWCI
17.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Computers & Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Erasmus+
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Augmented Reality Applications
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Education and Learning Interventions
Keywords
immersive virtual reality, higher education, virtual reality in education, VR application design, head-mounted displays, learning theory, learning outcomes, usability evaluation, research gaps

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