A Formative Evaluation on a Virtual Reality Game-Based Learning System for Teaching Introductory Archaeology

Virtual reality (VR) holds great potential for instructional and educational purposes as it is capable of immersing learners cognitively, physiologically, and emotionally by transcending physical limitations and boundaries, so learners can acquire experiences otherwise unattainable. A case in point is a VR learning environment that allows archaeology instructors to teach a variety of concepts and skills on archaeological fieldwork without bringing students to actual archaeological sites. A VR environment would also enable students to practice newly acquired skills in a safer and more affordable space than physically visiting the sites. VR alone, however, is insufficient to engage learners. Therefore, we identify game-based learning strategies to guide the development of the VR archaeology environment by incorporating game structure, game involvement, and game appeal into the design...