Personalized Messages That Promote Science Learning in Virtual Environments.
Abstract
College students learned how to design the roots, stem, and leaves of plants to survive in five different virtual reality environments through an agent-based multimedia educational game. For each student, the agent used personalized speech (e.g., including I and you) or nonpersonalized speech (e.g., 3rd-person monologue), and the game was presented via desktop computer (low immersion) or head-mounted display (high immersion). Across both levels of immersion, students who received personalized agent messages performed better on retention and problem-solving transfer tests. Although students reported higher levels of physical presence with high rather than low immersion, higher immersion did not lead to better performance on tests of retention or transfer. Students learn more deeply from computer-based simulation games when an on-screen agent speaks to them in a personalized style rather than a nonpersonalized style.
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People learn more deeply when the words in a multimedia presentation are in conversational style rather than formal style (personalization principle).
“For example, people learn more deeply when the words in a multimedia presentation are in conversational style rather than formal style (the personalization principle: e.g., Mayer et al. 2004;Moreno and Mayer 2004)”
From An Evolutionary Upgrade of Cognitive Load Theory: Using the Human Motor System and Collaboration to Support the Learning of Complex Cognitive Tasks (2012) · cites this paper as Moreno and Mayer 2004
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- Authors
- Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E.
- Affiliations
- University of New Mexico (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- ORCID
- Mayer, Richard E.
- Venue
- Journal of Educational Psychology
- Published
- 2004-03
- Volume
- 96
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 165-173
- ISSN
- 0022-0663 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2176
- OpenAlex
- W1985269288
- Cited by
- 370
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 17.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Educational Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
- Keywords
- virtual reality, game-based learning, agent-based learning, head-mounted displays, immersion, science learning, retention, transfer of learning, physical presence, multimedia learning
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