Collaborative Immersive Virtual Environments in Geography Education on Climate Zones: A UX Case Study

Abstract

This study examines students’ experiences with Biomes, a Collaborative Immersive Virtual Environment (CIVE) designed to teach climate zones through virtual reality. The research employed a combination of Research through Design (RtD) methodology and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore how students view their CIVE experience and its perceived impact on learning. 16 students (aged 12–15) participated in structured lessons using Meta Quest 2 headsets, followed by semi-structured focus groups. The analysis yielded three overarching themes: challenges with object manipulation, perceived benefits, and desired additional functionalities. While participants encountered challenges with precise thumbnail placement and grip distance control, they reported high levels of enjoyment, appropriate difficulty levels, and notable knowledge acquisition. The immersive nature of the virtual environment created authentic experiences that traditional classrooms cannot replicate, although perceptions varied by age group, with younger students showing greater enthusiasm. The findings demonstrate that despite technical challenges, CIVEs have the potential to facilitate engaging educational experiences. It is imperative to integrate advanced interaction techniques, incorporate age-specific design elements, and strike a balance between technological innovation and pedagogical efficacy to optimise educational outcomes in virtual reality learning environments, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of future developments in this domain.

1. Introduction

Technologies in education continue to transform teaching and learning processes, offering innovative approaches to knowledge construction and skill development [1,2,3]. The integration of digital tools, particularly Virtual Reality (VR) and immersive technologies, enables more engaging and flexible learning experiences [4], while adapting to diverse learner needs [1,2,5,6]. Research shows that interactive digital environments can enhance student engagement and improve learning outcomes, especially when thoughtfully integrated with traditional teaching methods [2,3,5,7,8].

Society and technology are advancing at an unprecedented rate, driving fundamental changes in educational systems [1]. The ongoing transformation of schooling practices must prepare students for emerging challenges and opportunities, extending beyond technology integration to address broader demands of globalisation, changing labour markets, and socio-economic shifts [4,6].

As educational technologies evolve, the focus has shifted to creating more immersive and interactive learning experiences [1]. While various technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics contribute to this shift [5,8], VR technology stands out for its unique ability to create experiential learning environments. This technological advancement is particularly significant as education systems adapt to prepare students for an increasingly digital and connected world [1,6]. This transformation is reshaping traditional educational roles, making learning more dynamic and student-centred [2,5,6], while providing new opportunities for collaboration and experiential learning [1].

Virtual Reality (VR) technology transforms educational practices by providing immersive and interactive learning experiences. Through head-mounted displays (HMDs) and motion-tracking devices, VR environments enable active participation and experiential “hands-on” learning, moving beyond the limitations of traditional passive instruction [3,7,9]. VR’s immersive nature fosters a strong sense of presence, making students feel as if they are physically situated within the learning environment. This deep engagement facilitates enhanced comprehension and retention through learners’ active interaction with educational content in authentic contexts [10,11] while simultaneously promoting conceptual understanding through direct manipulation of virtual representations of complex phenomena [3,8,9,12].

The applications of VR span various academic disciplines, with particular relevance to fields that require spatial understanding [3,12,13] and experiential learning [9]. In environmental and geographical education, VR enables the visualisation of complex natural phenomena and ecosystem interactions that would be otherwise difficult or risky to demonstrate in traditional classroom settings [7,9]. This capability enables students to develop spatial awareness and conceptual understanding through direct observation and interaction with virtual representations of real-world processes [9], while fostering a deeper connection to the values, meanings, and cultural and ecological significance of these places [13,14]. Research suggests that this combination of collaborative and personalised learning opportunities may enhance student motivation, engagement, and even improve interpersonal relationships [9,11,12,15], particularly for learners who find traditional instructional methods challenging [2,10].

Collaborative Immersive Virtual Environments (CIVEs) represent a significant advancement in the field of virtual reality (VR) technology, introducing social dimensions that profoundly enhance virtual learning experiences [15,16]. These environments enable synchronous multi-user interaction within shared virtual spaces, facilitating collective exploration and knowledge construction [2,12,17]. While individual and collaborative learning may yield comparable performance outcomes, CIVEs enhance cognitive resource utilisation and information retention, and foster empathy through peer interaction [12,15,16]. The presence of a collaborator has been shown to provide immediate feedback and alternative perspectives, thereby promoting more robust problem-solving approaches. While collaboration has been demonstrated to be particularly effective for complex, divergent tasks that require multiple perspectives [15], such as architectural design [16] or scientific modelling, it may be less beneficial for routine, convergent tasks that demand individual focus and expertise [12].

Constructivist learning principles underpin CIVEs, wherein knowledge emerges through active experiential processes [9] and social interaction, superseding passive reception [18]. This theoretical framework emphasises the integration of new experiences with existing knowledge schemas as learners iteratively refine their mental models to construct a coherent understanding [9,18]. Through immersive digital environments, CIVEs facilitate active exploration, experimentation, and peer dialogue, fostering the development of critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities. These platforms promote student autonomy and creativity while aligning with contemporary pedagogical approaches, such as inquiry-based and problem-based learning [2,18].

Integrating Collaborative Immersive Virtual Environments (CIVEs) into educational settings presents numerous challenges, including accessibility constraints, infrastructure requirements, and the need for comprehensive pedagogical training [3,10,11]. Educational practitioners require robust professional development to effectively leverage these technological innovations, thereby bridging the disconnect between advancements and practical applications [1,3].

Contemporary literature [1,19,20,21,22,23] suggests that while CIVEs offer transformative educational affordances, their methodological frameworks remain underdeveloped [1,19,20,21,22,23]. Through direct experiential learning opportunities, these environments foster cognitive development and the acquisition of crucial twenty-first-century competencies [17,18]. However, their successful implementation demands further investigation into user experience parameters and quantifiable outcomes [2,4,6,20].

The emphasis on geography education is deliberate and theoretically founded. Virtual reality (VR) should not be regarded as a universally superior teaching tool; rather, its use should be pedagogically justified and context-specific. Geography, as a discipline inherently concerned with spatial relations, scale, and three-dimensional phenomena, offers such a context. The immersive affordances of VR enable students to perceive and interact with spatial and environmental processes in ways that traditional two-dimensional representations cannot support [3,7,9,12,13,14]. In this sense, the Biomes CIVE does not merely function as a technological showcase; rather, it serves as an exemplar of how immersive media can make abstract spatial concepts experientially accessible. This targeted utilization underscores that the educational value of VR is maximized in contexts that necessitate spatial visualization—a necessity that is particularly evident within the discipline of geography education.

This study investigates the factors that shape students’ user experience with the Biomes CIVE, addressing the research question: How do students evaluate their experience with the CIVE Biomes and its perceived learning impacts?

The research’s three primary objectives are as follows:

• To identify specific pain points in the Biomes user experience.
• To analyse users’ views of potential perceived learning gains.
• To gather comprehensive feedback for improving CIVEs and their instructional modules on the eDIVE platform.

This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge about effective CIVE implementation in educational settings by examining these aspects. The findings will inform the development of more effective collaborative virtual learning environments and provide insights into optimising user experience in educational CIVEs. This understanding is crucial for bridging the gap between technological innovation and practical educational implementation, ultimately supporting the development of more effective and engaging learning experiences [3].

It is essential to recognise that the objective measurement of learning outcomes falls outside the scope of this study. Conversely, the present research focuses on students’ perceived learning impact—how learners subjectively evaluate the knowledge and skills they believe they have gained through interaction with the Biomes CIVE. Comprehension of perceived learning impact is a vital component of assessing measurable achievement, as it encompasses learners’ motivational and affective responses, their sense of efficacy, and the value they ascribe to the learning experience. Systems of subjective evaluation emphasise students’ motivation, participation, and classroom interactions, capturing the emotional and perceptual dimensions of learning that objective assessments often overlook. Therefore, understanding perceived learning is crucial, as it reflects how students internalise and value their learning experiences. These factors strongly influence engagement, self-efficacy, and future learning behaviour within immersive virtual environments [24,25,26,27].

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Apparatus and Research Environment

The present study employs a collaborative immersive virtual environment (CIVE), Biomes [28], to enhance educational methodologies through immersive learning experiences. This environment was facilitated using the eDIVE platform [29], an innovative tool designed for interactive teaching and collaborative learning in virtual reality. The platform supports real-time cooperation among users, enabling dynamic educational interactions. The development of Biomes was a multidisciplinary effort, bringing together experts in information science, psychology, and education to create and refine immersive learning scenarios and methodologies [30].

The application enables multi-user interaction in a shared virtual environment, accessible through head-mounted displays (HMDs) or desktop interfaces. The virtual space zones and various features are enhanced through immersive environments with audio-visual elements.

The primary apparatus consists of a virtual room situated on a wooden platform, where multiple users, represented as simplified avatars with HMDs and controllers, can interact simultaneously, regardless of their physical location. The system supports both co-located and remote collaboration through real-time voice communication. The system incorporates several core interactive elements, including a comprehensive world map that delineates climate regions. The manipulable animal miniatures can be positioned within designated map areas, a manipulable globe indicating climate regions, and a mode-switching capability between “Teaching” and “Guessing” interfaces (Figure 1). These modes expand the range of environments depicted in the system’s climate zones.

Immersive environments replicate real-world expeditions to diverse climate zones, offering experiences that would be logistically challenging or impossible to achieve in traditional education settings [32]. Users can instantly transition from exploring a tropical rainforest riverside to encountering African elephants in subtropical regions or navigating through polar icebergs to observing wildlife at an Antarctic research station. This virtual mobility enables direct comparison and analysis of different biomes’ characteristics without the temporal and spatial constraints of physical travel [14].

2.2. Lesson Plan

Our team meticulously designed and developed the Sample Lesson Plan for Teaching CLIMATE ZONES [18] as a component of our ongoing efforts on both the application and its associated educational framework. The lesson plan employs a structured approach to introduce students to the concept of climate zones, while seamlessly integrating the application into the learning process.

Despite our effort to follow the sample lesson plan as closely as possible, some changes were necessary due to a few missing functionalities in the current version of the application. One notable challenge that required modification was the inability to interact with the application in its desktop version. The instructor could watch the participants interact with the application, but could not interact with it themself. All interactions and interventions were conducted by the participants themselves, based on verbal instructions. Modifications were made to “EXPEDITIONS” and “GUESSING”, which are related to the sections “EXPEDITIONS” and “GUESSING”, as shown in Figure 2, along with the sample lesson procedure.

2.3. Research Design

This study explored factors influencing students’ experiences with the Biomes CIVE using a two-phase approach, guided by Research through Design (RtD) methodology. RtD enables knowledge generation by creating and implementing design artefacts in real-world contexts [33]. In this framework, the Biomes CIVE prototype serves as both a research instrument and an object of study, facilitating novel interactions and revealing emergent patterns in educational virtual reality usage. This methodological approach extends beyond application design to encompass broader pedagogical considerations, examining how virtual reality technology can enhance teaching practices through direct implementation and systematic observation.

Phase one involved introducing participants to Biomes through a structured sample lesson plan using Meta Quest 2 headsets. Participants first practiced VR interactions in the Vila Stiassni application before entering Biomes. Headsets were individually optimised to minimise technical discomfort.

Phase two consisted of semi-structured group interviews to gather comprehensive insights into participant experiences. A scheme of the experiment’s procedure is illustrated in Figure 3. The research employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to examine individual experiences and their meanings within the VR environment.

Following the IPA methodology’s open-ended approach, which prioritises hypothesis generation over testing [34], the study addressed this research question:

RQ: “How do students evaluate their experience with the CIVE Biomes and its perceived learning impacts?”

2.4. Semi-Structured Focus Group

Interviews were structured around user experience design facets, with some excluded due to their irrelevance to student participants. The defined facets and corresponding interview questions are detailed in

Table 1. Aspects of user experience design.

Facet	Definition of a Facet	The Relevant Question or Reason for Not Examining the Element in Question
Usability	How easily and efficiently can the user use the product?	How did you find the environment to work with? Were there any interactions that you found challenging to perform?
Availability	Ensuring that the product is usable by as many users as possible, including those with various limitations.	Participants in this research are not a relevant target group for assessing this aspect.
Aesthetics	The visual elements, design and aesthetic feel of the product.	How do you visualise the environment? What is your impression of the environment?
Usage	How often and effectively users use the product or service.	The participants in this research are not a relevant target group for assessing this aspect.
Credibility	How much users trust the product or brand.	Participants in this research are not a relevant focus group for assessing this aspect.
Enthusiasm	Emotions and positive impressions associated with using the product.	How do you feel after using the app? What are your impressions and emotions from the lesson?
Simplicity	Minimising the complexity and effort required to achieve the goal.	How would you rate the difficulty of the game? Were there any tasks that you found challenging?
Consistency	The same behaviour and design will be used across different parts of the product.	Did trying out the VR environment performed in Vila? Did it impact your performance in Biomes?
Interactivity	How actively can users interact with the element or content?	Were there any actions that were complicated to do for control reasons? Were there some actions you wanted, but the game didn’t allow them?
Reactivity	How quickly and efficiently the product responds to user actions.	Did you feel that the system reacted quickly enough to your stimuli?

.

These questions were then ranked, and an icebreaker question was added at the beginning to relax the participants and maintain a positive atmosphere. The complete list of questions asked of all participants is shown in

Table 2. Complete list of Questions.

The Sequence Number of a Question	Question Asked
0. Icebreaker	Have you ever known before? What have you experienced in a virtual environment? If not, can you imagine anything you would like to experience in VR?
1.	How do you feel after using the app? What are your impressions and emotions from the lesson, and how did these evolve?
2.	How do you visualise the environment? What impression does the environment have on you?
3.	How did you find the environment to work with? Were there any interactions/tasks that you found challenging to perform?
4.	Did you feel that the system responded quickly enough to your stimuli?
5.	Did trying out the VR environment on the Vila app impact how you performed on the Biomes app?
6.	How would you rate the difficulty? Were there any tasks that you found challenging?
7.	Were there any tasks that were complicated to do for control reasons? Were there any tasks you wanted to do that the app didn’t allow? (Alternatively, for what reason did you want to do them? Would this action have helped you to understand the issues?)

.

2.5. Participants

The phenomenological approach emphasises participants as the primary interpreters of their own experiences [34]. A group of student participants was recruited for this study. The target age group was determined to be between 11 and 15 years of age. Participants who expressed interest in participating in the study were selected from this group. The potential influence of participant interest on the study’s outcomes is a salient consideration, as a certain degree of interest in or acceptance of virtual reality as a technology in the educational process can be anticipated. Nevertheless, owing to the qualitative character of the research, this factor cannot be controlled. A total of 16 students from Biskupské gymnázium Brno, a religious grammar school, participated in this study.

They were divided into four groups of four members. The groups comprised four girls and 12 boys, with a mean age of 13.68 years (range: 12–15 years). Group composition included seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade students (In the Czech school system, eight-year grammar schools offer secondary education for students admitted through competitive entrance exams after the 5th grade, which culminates in the graduation exam, which qualifies them for university admission.).

With respect to virtual reality, most participants had no prior exposure, and those who did reported only limited familiarity, primarily from demonstrations or public events. To preserve anonymity and facilitate analysis, each testing group was assigned a fictional narrative, and its participants were assigned names derived from this narrative. This approach facilitates clear differentiation between participants while maintaining their confidentiality. The names were randomly selected from well-known characters in each respective narrative, as illustrated in

Table 3. Fictional narratives.

Grade	Seventh-	Eight-	Eight-	Ninth-
Fictional narratives	Harry Potter	The Hobbit	The Witcher	Game of Thrones
Names Assigned to Speakers	Hermione	Bilbo	Geralt	Jon Snow
	Harry	Thorin	Yennefer	Tyrion
	Ron	Gandalf	Ciri	Arya
	Luna	Kili	Jaskier	Daenerys

.

2.6. Data Acquisition

Data collection took place in four research groups in April 2024 on the premises of the Bishop’s Gymnasium in Brno. The group interviews lasted between 12 and 21 min and were recorded in full.

2.7. Ethics and Limitations

This investigation acknowledges several methodological limitations that warrant consideration. The sample demographics presented notable constraints, limited to students from a selective high school, which may have influenced learning approaches and application engagement. Furthermore, the findings suggest an inverse relationship between participant age and perceived benefits, indicating the value of extending future research to younger demographics. The potential influence of group conformity on participant responses must also be acknowledged.

The research is methodologically related to previous studies focused on users over 15 years of age working in collaborative immersive virtual reality, which was approved by the university’s ethics committee (EKV-2019-082—Ethics Committee of Masaryk University in Brno). We kept the same methodological procedure in this case, but changed the target group within the original student research. Due to its characteristics, the study was conducted under the supervision of psychologists for all other parts of the procedure. The target group is older than the students analysed in the sensitive analysis up to grade K12 [35], where the experiments are conducted. In this respect, we are more uncertain about the effects on education [36,37] than in the ethical or health risk zones. The conclusion is based on the results collected during the preparation of the bachelor’s thesis, for which approval by an ethics committee is not required. The supervisor, who is a co-author of the text, is responsible for the ethics of the research.

Regarding ethical considerations, all research procedures adhered to established institutional guidelines, with informed consent obtained from all participants and their legal guardians. Data collection and storage protocols maintained participant confidentiality through rigorous anonymisation procedures, and participants retained the right to withdraw from the study at any time without consequence.

2.8. Analysis

The Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis method was applied to capture the essence of the phenomenon, emphasising both shared experiences and individual perspectives [34,38]. This approach aligns with methodologies employed in studies such as those of Nizza et al. [39], who used IPA to elucidate the longitudinal evolution of participants’ sense of self following referral to a pain management service and engagement in a pain management program. Additionally, it is consistent with the research of Jung and Young [40], who investigated the meaning of non-suicidal self-injury experienced by adolescents.

Transcripts were analysed individually through an iterative process of repeated reading, deconstruction, and careful examination. Significant statements were highlighted, and initial notes were keyword-coded to identify emerging themes for each transcript. Following individual analysis, relationships between themes were explored, creating a hierarchical structure that allowed for categorising factors into distinct spheres of influence. The entire analytic process is illustrated in Figure 4. This systematic approach enabled a nuanced understanding of the participants’ experiences, ensuring that collective patterns and unique individual insights were thoroughly examined and integrated into the research findings. For this article, the verbatim excerpts from the participants were translated from the Czech language, with the filler words subsequently removed.

3. Results

The analysis yielded three overarching themes, which were further subdivided into several subthemes. These subthemes are addressed in the subsequent sections, with verbatim excerpts from the data corpus providing illustrative examples of the key findings. The organisation of the results is focused on the most salient topics, which include challenges related to object manipulation, perceived benefits, and desires for additional functionalities. The initial theme is examining user challenges with object interaction, including issues with thumbnail placement and grip distance. The second theme explores the perceived benefits, focusing on enjoyment, difficulty level, and knowledge acquisition. Finally, participants’ desires for additional functionalities are discussed.

3.1. Manipulation of Objects

Interacting with virtual objects is a fundamental aspect of user engagement in CIVE. In this study, participants were tasked with positioning and manipulating animal thumbnails within a virtual map. However, challenges related to accuracy, precision, and ease of movement significantly impacted their overall experience. This section discusses users’ difficulties when positioning thumbnails at predetermined points and the complexities encountered while handling them.

3.1.1. Frustrations with Thumbnail Placement

Many participants reported challenges when attempting to position animal thumbnails on the designated blue dots on the map. Participants frequently struggled to achieve proper placement. This difficulty level generated notable frustration and confusion among participants. In several cases, they reported a complete inability to place animal thumbnails on the map, which significantly hindered their engagement with the application and limited their interaction with the virtual environment (

Table 4. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Frustration with Thumbnail Placement.

Tyrion	“The worst thing was placing the animals on the ones because sometimes it had to be in that spot. Otherwise, it went back to its original spot.”
Daenerys	“Well, I couldn’t place the thumbnails either. I could never get it right.”
Geralt	“Yeah, it was impossible to place the animal.”
Ron	“What happened to me was I couldn’t hit the spot with the animal.”
Kili	“Just the animals, the way they were plugging in, first two went in and then I couldn’t get them in for some reason.”
Bilbo	“Sticking those animals in those markers was a little bit more challenging because it kept skipping around so much.”
Thorin	“Within two tries or three, I had it in all right.”
Ciri	“The placement of the thumbnails of the animals was sometimes like, I could hit it for like the third or fourth time…”

).

The precision threshold required for the application to register successful thumbnail placement appeared exceedingly stringent. The system often failed to register these actions even when participants perceived they had correctly positioned thumbnails at the designated points. While system latency may have contributed to this issue, participant testimonials suggest that the primary challenge stemmed from the excessive precision requirements. Observations indicated that manual manipulation was necessary for accurate thumbnail positioning, as waiting for the system’s response proved insufficient in most instances (

Table 5. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Excessive Precision Requirements.

Bilbo	“When I picked it up and I wanted to put it in, there were times that it just stuck in there, but the spot was still blue, or it showed up a little bit from the spot, and I didn’t know if it worked.”
Ciri	“…it was much more challenging than it didn’t register at times.”
Thorin	“…it was the dot again, some still stayed blue…”
Ciri	“Well, it was more than when you took the statue and put it there; it didn’t always register that you put it in the place of the dot. It just stayed there flying by and didn’t get registered.”

).

3.1.2. Grip Distance and Manipulation Challenges

Several participants identified difficulties related to the physical handling of miniatures within the virtual environment. One participant specifically articulated challenges in directing miniatures to intended locations, while others highlighted the limitations of the fixed-distance grabbing mechanism, which constrained interaction. When a user grabbed a thumbnail, the distance between the avatar and the object became locked, requiring users to completely release the thumbnail, physically reposition in the virtual environment, and re-grab the object to establish a new working distance. This cumbersome workflow engendered notable usability barriers. A recurring theme among participants was a preference for adjustable grip distances, eliminating the need to release and re-grab objects. This suggests that while miniature manipulation may not be inherently intuitive, dynamic distance adjustment during continuous grabbing could substantially enhance user control and the overall interaction experience (

Table 6. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Grip Distance and Manipulating Challenges.

Arya	“…the grabbing was sometimes difficult…”
Bilbo	“Like there was this spot, I still couldn’t point it to that spot. I had to execute it for a while to get it to stick.”
Daenerys	“I had a couple of times that I kind of got it, but I had it completely at the very end, it was tiny and I didn’t even know how to put it in the spot.”
Ciri	(Were there some actions that you were eager to do, but the app didn’t do them?) “Yeah, like I could take the statue in my hand, and I could rotate it somehow and stuff.” “Or putting it closer and further away once you’re holding it.”

).

3.2. Perceived Benefits

The application exhibited considerable educational value and user satisfaction across various dimensions. Participants consistently reported positive experiences related to the visual design, immersive qualities, appropriate challenge levels, and growth opportunities. The virtual environment effectively balanced engagement with educational content, though perceptions varied by age group. The application’s ability to create authentic-feeling experiences that would be difficult to replicate in physical classrooms emerged as a valuable attribute, suggesting strong potential for virtual reality as an educational tool.

3.2.1. Enjoyment

Many participants reported positive experiences with the application (

Table 7. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Overall Enjoyment.

Bilbo	“…I enjoyed it and liked it…”
Geralt	“I was also looking forward to the VR and quite enjoyed it.”
Hermione	“…and then it was great to see everything.”
Ciri	“It was an interesting experience, and I was looking forward to it at first, and that feeling hasn’t changed. It was interesting.”
Yennefer	“…I had fun, so I enjoyed it.”
Jaskier	“I was looking forward to it too; it was fun.”
Tyrion	“It was fun to see…”
Daenerys	“But other than that, I enjoyed it.”
Hermione	(How did you like the setting visually, and what was your impression?) “Well, it was a strong experience. I thought that it was pretty cool.”

), underscoring two pivotal dimensions: visual appeal and immersive quality. These aspects substantially influenced user enjoyment and engagement with the educational content and virtual environment. These dimensions will be explored in the following sections.

Visuality Appeal

The participants offered favorable commentary on the application’s visual components, emphasising the appeal of the depicted environment and scenarios that would be challenging to replicate in the real world. Their remarks suggest that they regarded immersion in the application’s environment as a valuable experience.

However, enthusiasm levels exhibited notable variations across age groups. Younger participants (seventh-grade students from the fourth test group) exhibited greater fascination with the visual elements than older participants (ninth-grade students from the second test group). The younger students used terms such as “cool” and “exciting” to describe the environment, indicating a higher degree of engagement and emotional response to the immersive qualities of the visual design. In contrast, older participants also expressed appreciation for the environment’s quality and realism; however, their reactions were more measured, indicating a greater degree of analytical distance and less affective excitement.

These disparities may be indicative of developmental variations in perceptual engagement and expectations concerning digital aesthetics. It is conceivable that younger participants found the novelty and sensory richness of the immersive environment to be more captivating. Conversely, older students may have evaluated the same visual features through a more critical or utilitarian lens, prioritising their educational function over their aesthetic appeal. It is essential to acknowledge that the present study employs a qualitative research approach, which necessitates an analysis of age-related disparities using quantitative methods. This finding suggests that perceptions of visuality in immersive virtual environments (IVEs) are not uniform but are shaped by divergent cognitive and experiential frameworks.

To facilitate a more nuanced comprehension of these variations, the ensuing statements have been methodically arranged in

Table 8. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Visuality Appeal.

Hermione	(How did you like the environment visually, and how did it appeal to you?) “Well, that was powerful. I thought that was pretty cool, that you could look at everything, with different details to zoom in and turn around. I think that was good.”
Harry	(How did you like the environment visually, and how did it appeal to you?) “Well, it was excellent…”
Luna	“I liked that there were, for example, lions or elephants around us, which wouldn’t be normally possible, so it was exciting.”
Ron	(How did you like the environment visually, and how did it appeal to you?) “Yeah, I liked it. I liked how you could move around, turn, walk around…”
Gandalf	“Like, I think what I liked the most was the environment around it, like how it was set up, that it was changing from one to another. Seeing the environment like that was pretty nice.”
Gandalf	“When I was switching it between those climate spheres, it was nice.”
Tyrion	“And the environment where we played, that was good too.”
Arya	(So purely the visual side, how would you rate that?) “Nice.”
Daenerys	(So purely the visual side, how would you rate that?) “Yeah, it’s all right.”
Jon Snow	(How did you like the environment visually, and how did it appeal to you?) “Yeah, it was cool. It wasn’t that it was ugly in any way.” (But you’re also not excited about it?) “Not really.”

according to the respective year of study. The remarks from the youngest age group are presented first, followed by those from the eighth-grade participants, and concluding with statements from the oldest group.

Immersion Quality

The extent to which participants could immerse themselves in the virtual environment significantly impacted their overall experience. Many respondents reported that the environment felt remarkably authentic, with some participants, such as Jaskier, going so far as to describe it “as if it existed”. Others characterised their experience as something they had “experienced first-hand” or “lived through”. These descriptions indicate high levels of immersion and deep engagement with the virtual environment, suggesting that interactions felt natural and intuitive (

Table 9. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Immersion Quality.

Kili	“…and being in that environment, it felt authentic. When I look, there’s no sign of it being just the virtual reality, but like I was really there.”
Gandalf	“Well, it was very, very real that when I was just looking around, if I didn’t have that zone in there, I wouldn’t really reflect how far I could go, and I just wouldn’t know what. I’d probably collide with some stuff in the room. So it was real. Just having that zone there, I knew I couldn’t go anywhere. But like, it was authentic because first I had to realise that I had to hit that button to walk and not just walk.”
Jaskier	“…it was, like, just as if it existed.”
Gandalf	“So, like, seeing nature in real life like that.”
Gandalf	“Like when you experience it first-hand, I think you kind of remember it longer and better.”

).

The notion of profound environmental immersion is further substantiated by participant accounts of mild trepidation and sporadic giddiness in scenarios where the platform reserving the space for movement was situated at considerable heights. Contextual analysis suggests these sensations were not distressing but enhanced the power and authenticity of the environmental experience, contributing positively to overall engagement (

Table 10. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Mild Trepidation and Sporadic Giddiness.

Bilbo	“I was even giddy when I reached the edge.” … “So it was really like real.”
Thorin	(“I was even giddy when I got to the edge.”) “Yeah, me too.”
Thorin	“I was already afraid, and then I was treading carefully.”
Jaskier	“Yeah, and sometimes I was afraid to step over that edge. So yeah, that 3D one is just interesting.”
Daenerys	“…I got scared of what was underneath me, but otherwise it was great.”
Tyrion	“It was fun to look underneath and see that there was something there.”

).

3.2.2. Difficulty Level

None of the participants considered the tasks challenging, although perceptions of challenge appropriateness varied across age groups. Seventh- and eighth-grade students ascribed moderate levels of challenge to the functions and perceived them to be commensurate with their abilities. Conversely, ninth-grade students, comprising the second research group, found the tasks to be overly simplistic. The perceived difficulty of tasks can significantly affect participants’ experience. Participants who encountered tasks as appropriately challenging were more likely to experience greater satisfaction upon completion, without undue stress. Conversely, participants who found the tasks too easy may have experienced boredom or a lack of motivation due to the tasks’ insufficient challenge. To further illustrate this distinction, the following statements are listed in ascending order of relevance to the respective year of study in

Table 11. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Difficulty Level.

Hermione	(Did you find it easy, or how would you rate it?) “Not so much, as good.”
Luna	(Did you find it easy, or how would you rate it?) “Moderate.”
Hermione Harry Ron Luna	(“Just right?”) “Yeah.”
Gandalf	“…none were difficult. They were all just normal, which I’m used to.”
Thorin	(“…none were difficult. They were all just normal, which I’m used to.”) “Yeah, exactly.”
Bilbo	“Other than that, the tasks seemed easy and good.” (“Easy too much. Or easy like…?”) “Well, moderate.”
Thorin	“Like, it was manageable.”
Kili	“It was easy for me too, nothing hard, but it wasn’t extremely easy. Kind of a midrange.”
Yennefer	“I didn’t find the tasks that hard. I found them okay.”
Ciri	“… it wasn’t hard for me.”
Jaskier	“Yeah, it wasn’t hard for me either.”
Jon Snow	“It was easier.”
Tyrion	“It was awfully easy.”
Arya	“Easier.”
Daenerys	“It was easier.”

.

Although younger participants generally considered the difficulty to be moderate or adequate, some of them reported that they perceived the tasks as a form of repetition that helped them refresh their already acquired knowledge (

Table 12. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Repetition.

Kili	“For me, it was more of a repetition.”
Ciri	“I had it more like a repetition, right. Like I said, it’s easy to remember, so it was more like a freshening up…”
Yennefer	“I got it the same way too, just a bit of a recap.”
Jaskier	“Yeah, we all kind of just recapped it in a fun way.”
Hermione Harry Ron Luna	(“So you learned something, but it was more like a recap, kind of get it under your skin a little bit?”) “Yeah.”

).

3.2.3. Acquisition of Knowledge

Although some participants perceived the lesson as more of a practice session, the statements suggest that using the application was associated with acquiring new knowledge or concepts for many participants. Some participants expressed that learning in an application environment helped them to remember better and visualise the issues discussed, and highlighted this way of presenting information compared to the methods used in traditional teaching. The virtual context appeared to provide superior information presentation that supported knowledge retention and conceptual understanding (

Table 13. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Acquisition of Knowledge.

Geralt	(“And you felt that you learned something there. Or was it more of a repetition for you? What was your impression of it?”) “Something appeared there.”
Hermione	“And was it more of a repeat or did you learn something new?”) “Also, something new personally.”
Luna	(“And was it more of a repetition or did you learn something new?”) “Yeah, also something new.”
Harry	(“And was it more of a rehearsal or did you learn something new?”) “Yeah, you always learn something new.”
Kili	“… but also with the impression that I learned something there.”
Gandalf	“Like when you experience it firsthand, you kind of get a longer and better memory retention of it, I think.”
Gandalf	“So it was kind of, you could say, even educational from that point of view that I was seeing it 3D around me.”
Bilbo	“Kind of a better idea. Then, if I say a temperate climate zone, for example, I can see the photo there. And that’s better than when we do it in class and the teacher tells us polar, subpolar…It’s better for the imagination.”

).

3.3. Desires for Further Functionalities

This section outlines the capabilities sought by participants that are currently inaccessible within the application. Most participants expressed a desire to delve more deeply into the virtual environment, an ability that the application did not facilitate. They frequently expressed a yearning to transcend the limitations of the platform and navigate among the arboreal vegetation or fauna (

Table 14. Verbatim excerpts of statements by participants: Desires for Further Functionalities.

Thorin	“What I would have found very interesting is that when we were in the tropical zone, if we could have gone a little further to see, for example, the rainforest.”
Gandalf	“…if you could walk through that environment more, like not just stand there on the platform, but maybe walk through it more, that might be better too.”
Kili	“…probably likewise, to be able to walk through, it wouldn’t have to be completely free, maybe just in some bigger radius of that environment.”
Thorin	“Well, I would personally go somewhere further away, but as it was now, it was… It was good, but like I say, it would probably be better if we could go further.”
Arya	“Well, I always wanted to come out of the area with the map. Like going into that picture.”
Jon Snow	“I also wanted to explore it further and further and look somewhere, like around the corner of the river, but it just didn’t work.”
Arya	“…it would be more interesting if we could just go somewhere away from the river.”
Arya	(Did you tend to try to go beyond the platform for those videos as well, or was it just for the more static images?) “Well, with both.”
Jon Snow Tyrion Arya Daenerys	(“And even with those videos, did you feel like going in there with the penguins and such?”) “Yeah.”
Jaskier	“…what I think is I couldn’t go much beyond the platform…”
Luna	“Going more into that nature, that there’s just that certain platform, and so going further just maybe amongst those trees or animals.”
Hermione	(“To go maybe more into that nature, that there is just that particular platform, and so to go further just maybe among those trees or among those animals.”) “I agree.”

). It should be noted that specific aspirations were more individualised in nature and less universally shared. One participant, for instance, articulated a desire for the presence of interactive objects representing the environment, including representations of the local flora and fauna. Finally, one participant continually expressed a desire to jump during the experiment. When asked to explain the urge for this behaviour, the participant stated, “I could jump on an elephant, for example.” This response suggests a degree of juvenile behaviour; nevertheless, the experience of riding on the back of an African elephant in an arid climate zone may hold educational benefits.

4. Discussion

This research explored students’ experiential perceptions of the CIVE Biomes, focusing on their impact on learning and learning outcomes. The study addressed the central research question: How do students view their experience with CIVE Biomes and its impact on perceived learning outcomes? Guided by three primary objectives, the analysis aimed to: (1) pinpoint specific user experience challenges encountered within the Biomes environment; (2) evaluate participants’ views of their perceived learning gains; and (3) elicit comprehensive user feedback for the iterative improvement of CIVEs and their associated instructional modules on the eDIVE platform.

This discussion interprets the findings concerning these objectives, highlighting key insights and their implications for future CIVE development. The analysis contextualises user-reported challenges and benefits by comparing them with existing scholarship on virtual learning environments. It proposes actionable recommendations for enhancing both the usability and instructional effectiveness of CIVEs.

4.1. Objective 1—Identifying User Experience Challenges

One of the objectives of this study was to delineate specific user experience challenges within the Biomes CIVE. The study results indicated that participants encountered notable difficulties with object manipulation, particularly in precisely positioning and adjusting animal thumbnails. The system’s stringent precision requirements for thumbnail placement led to frequent errors and subsequent frustration, while the fixed-distance Ray Casting grasping mechanism impeded intuitive interaction.

The participants reported significant challenges in achieving accurate object placement, as the system often failed to register correctly positioned thumbnails, necessitating repeated attempts, which diminished user immersion. Additionally, the system’s inability to adjust the grasping distance dynamically necessitated cumbersome repositioning, further impeding the user experience. The participants strongly preferred a more flexible manipulation system, which would afford greater control over object positioning and interaction.

In light of these user experiences, it is essential to consider advanced interaction techniques to address the observed challenges [41,42]. The existing research offers significant insights into enhancing object manipulation within IVEs [17,18,19]. The HOMER (Hand-centred Object Manipulation Extending Ray-Casting) technique, which integrates Ray Casting and hand use, could offer a more intuitive and direct placement mechanism [41]. To address precision difficulties, a Proximity-based Auto Grab with a “magnetic” effect could enable users to swiftly “snap” thumbnails into place within an augmented activation radius [43]. Additionally, the Bubble-Ray technique, which enhances ray casting with a dynamic selection bubble, could improve selection accuracy and reduce cognitive load associated with precise targeting [44]. A graphic overview of these manipulation techniques (see Figure 5) illustrates their core interaction principles and comparative attributes. Integrating these techniques while considering the Pareto Frontier of design objectives [45] would enhance usability and provide a more seamless user experience.

This study offers empirical evidence of the persistent challenges within the domain of VR interaction design, highlighting the tangible impact of the existing gap in standardised evaluation guidelines. As the VR community continues to innovate and introduce diverse object selection and manipulation techniques, the lack of widely adopted evaluation methodologies tailored explicitly for immersive VR impedes effective comparison, replication, and generalisation of research findings [42,46]. By documenting specific challenges encountered within Biomes CIVE and proposing solutions grounded in established interaction paradigms, this research contributes a valuable, empirically driven body of knowledge to the field, underscoring the need for standardised evaluation frameworks to foster greater replicability and more broadly applicable findings [42,46].

4.2. Objective 2—Evaluating Perceived Learning Gains

The second objective was to analyse users’ views regarding the potential perceived learning gains and educational impact of the Biomes CIVE. The analysis revealed a favorable reception of the application, underscoring its educational value across multiple domains, including visual appeal, immersive qualities, appropriate challenge levels, and knowledge acquisition. Notably, the environment’s capacity to foster authentic and memorable experiences, transcending the limitations of traditional classroom settings, was particularly noteworthy. While perceptions varied somewhat across age groups, particularly concerning visual engagement and task difficulty, the overarching sentiment was that the IVE facilitated meaningful learning and enhanced knowledge retention. Furthermore, users articulated a desire for improved interactivity and exploration within virtual environments, indicating a strong interest in deeper engagement with educational content.

4.2.1. Visual Immersion as a Dimension of Learning

Visual immersion constitutes a vital dimension of learning within immersive virtual environments, as it enables students to engage cognitively and emotionally with content through direct perceptual experience [1,3,7,9]. Within the Biomes CIVE, visual engagement extended beyond aesthetic appreciation to become a key mechanism for comprehension and meaning-making, allowing participants to explore and internalise complex spatial and ecological relationships in ways not possible through traditional instructional media [3,8].

The participants consistently highlighted the immersive and visually compelling nature of the Biomes CIVE, supported by remarks such as “it felt like it was genuine” (Kili) and “just as if it existed” (Jaskier), indicating a pronounced sense of presence. As noted in the verbalisations of the younger participants, the visual intricacies were regarded as “pretty cool” (Hermine), and the opportunity to “really look at everything” (Hermine) was appreciated. These observations suggest a strong affective engagement with the environment. In contrast, older students, such as Jon Snow, acknowledged the environment’s visual quality and realism but responded with more measured enthusiasm.

This pattern mirrors the age-related variations identified in Section “Visuality Appeal”, suggesting that differences in enthusiasm may stem from developmental distinctions in perceptual engagement and evaluative focus. It was observed that younger learners appeared to be more readily captivated by the novelty and sensory richness of the immersive environment. In contrast, older participants approached it from a more critical or pragmatic perspective, emphasising its educational value over its purely aesthetic appeal. These findings underscore that perceptions of visuality within immersive virtual environments (IVEs) are influenced by cognitive maturity and prior digital experience, shaping how learners of different ages interact with and interpret visual design elements.

4.2.2. Perceived Cognitive and Conceptual Gains

Participants perceived the Biomes CIVE as a meaningful learning experience that both reinforced their existing knowledge and facilitated the acquisition of new information. Their reflections indicated that immersion and interaction within the virtual environment supported comprehension by transforming abstract concepts into tangible, experientially grounded understandings. As Bilbo noted, “If I say a temperate climate zone, for example, I can see the photo there. And that’s better than when we do it in class and the teacher tells us polar, subpolar…It’s better for the imagination.”, highlighting the enhanced visualisation afforded by the CIVE. Furthermore, a significant number of participants expressed a desire for increased interactivity, indicating interest in deeper exploration and interaction with the virtual world, exemplified by wishes to “walk through that environment more” (Gandalf) and “go somewhere further away” (Thorin). The desire to “jump on an elephant” (Harry) highlights the playful engagement that the IVE fostered.

4.2.3. Summary of Evaluation

These findings align with the existing literature, which emphasises the CIVE’s potential to enhance learning through immersive experiences and visual engagement [1,5,9,10,11,15]. The reported sense of presence and authenticity corroborates studies demonstrating the effectiveness of VR in creating memorable and impactful learning environments [9,11,13]. The variations in enthusiasm across age groups suggest the importance of considering developmental factors in the IVEs, potentially reflecting differences in cognitive processing and engagement preferences [47,48]. The participants’ perception of learning gains, even when framed as “repetition”, suggests the reinforcing role of IVEs in knowledge consolidation, a finding supported by research on spaced repetition and active recall [49,50]. The intense desire for increased interactivity and exploration underscores the need for IVE design to prioritise user agency and engagement. The literature supports the notion that interactivity has been demonstrated to enhance learning outcomes by fostering active participation and deeper cognitive engagement [1,5,10,11,15,16,18]. This study contributes to the growing body of empirical evidence supporting the pedagogical value of IVEs, particularly in facilitating immersive and engaging learning experiences. However, further research is necessary to investigate the long-term impact on knowledge retention and to explore the optimal design parameters for maximising learning gains across diverse student populations.

4.3. Objective 3—Eliciting User Feedback for Improvement of CIVEs

A primary objective of this study was to gather comprehensive user feedback to inform the iterative improvement of CIVEs and their associated instructional modules on the eDIVE platform. The findings, particularly those about user experience challenges and perceived learning gains, provide valuable insights for refining these educational tools. Specifically, the difficulties observed in object manipulation underscore the necessity of accumulating more broadly applicable findings to enhance the interaction design of CIVE [46]. Additionally, as discussed previously, the participants’ perceptions of learning and engagement highlight the potential of CIVEs to create impactful educational experiences, while also revealing areas where enhancements can be made to maximise learning outcomes.

The feedback reveals a recurring theme: the need to strike a balance between immersive realism, intuitive interaction, and pedagogical efficacy. To address the challenges identified in object manipulation, integrating advanced interaction techniques, such as HOMER, Bubble-Ray-A, and Proximity-Based Auto-Grab, is recommended for the Biomes application. These techniques must be employed judiciously and individually to address the specific needs of each CIVE. Establishing standardised evaluation guidelines for these techniques would significantly contribute to the field [50]. Furthermore, the positive reception of the CIVE’s visual and immersive qualities suggests future iterations should continue to prioritise the creation of authentic and engaging environments [1,5,9,10,11,15]. However, to maximise educational efficacy, developers should incorporate dynamic interactive elements that allow participants to explore their interests while maintaining an optimal balance to prevent disruption of the learning experience.

In a broader context, this study underscores the critical role of user feedback in developing effective educational technologies. By methodically identifying and addressing user experience challenges and leveraging insights into perceived learning gains, developers can create CIVEs that captivate users and facilitate meaningful learning. These findings contribute to the ongoing evolution of CIVEs, providing actionable recommendations for enhancing usability and pedagogical effectiveness. To ensure continued relevance and effectiveness, it is essential to gather ongoing user feedback and conduct rigorous evaluations to align CIVEs with evolving learner needs and expectations [4,6]. Future research should explore the long-term impact of these enhancements on learning outcomes and investigate the CIVE’s potential to support diverse learning styles and educational contexts [9,10,11,12,15,16]. By adopting a user-centered design approach and prioritising continuous improvement, the CIVEs can exemplify how immersive technologies can transform geography education and other fields [4,6].

5. Conclusions

This study has yielded significant insights into students’ experiences with the Collaborative Immersive Virtual Environment Biomes, addressing their perceptions regarding its usability challenges and educational impact. Through a thorough qualitative analysis, we identified particular challenges related to object manipulation. We also documented the environment’s capacity to facilitate authentic and engaging learning experiences. Furthermore, we gathered actionable feedback to inform future development.

The investigation’s employment of a combined Research through Design (RtD) and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodological approach was instrumental in achieving these insights. This dual approach not only facilitated the iterative development and refinement of the Biomes CIVE prototype but also enabled a nuanced understanding of participants’ lived experiences within the environment. The present study makes a methodological contribution to the field of Collaborative Immersive Virtual Environments by merging design experimentation with in-depth phenomenological interpretation. It demonstrates how RtD and IPA can jointly advance both practical design knowledge and theoretical understanding of user experience in educational VR.

The findings demonstrate that while participants encountered technical challenges, particularly with precise object placement and manipulation, these challenges did not substantially diminish their overall positive experience with the environment. The immersive nature of the CIVE fosters a strong sense of presence, facilitating knowledge reinforcement and acquisition in ways that traditional classroom experiences cannot replicate. The analysis suggests adapting such environments to specific developmental stages could optimise engagement and learning outcomes.

This highlights the importance of striking a balance between technological innovation and pedagogical efficacy when designing educational virtual environments [51,52,53,54,55]. Addressing the identified interaction challenges through established VR design paradigms, incorporating greater interaction opportunities, and maintaining immersive authenticity are recommended for future design of CIVEs to serve diverse educational goals more effectively. As immersive technologies evolve, user-centered approaches to development remain essential, ensuring that these powerful tools realise their full potential in transforming educational experiences across various disciplines.

The immersive nature of the CIVE fosters a strong sense of presence, facilitating knowledge reinforcement and acquisition in ways that traditional classroom experiences cannot replicate. Despite respondents acknowledging certain shortcomings in the technical design, their perception of the immersion and the associated learning experience was predominantly positive. It can be argued that developing an environment that fosters learning creates a specific formative experience, bringing significant educational potential [55,56]. In consideration of the target group’s age, sub-adaptations to the environment were designed to allow learners to experience physicality more authentically within the CIVE environment.

Research indicates the necessity of achieving a dynamic equilibrium between technological solutions and educational objectives [51,52,53,54]. The experimental design enables the observation of short-term educational impacts, wherein immersive virtual reality facilitates heightened vividness, engagement and imagination. Furthermore, it encourages the observation of long-term goals, which may be associated with the multi-environment experience in shaping students’ cognitive structures [57,58], potentially engendering long-term positive impacts. This domain requires systematic and sustained investigation.

Students’ desire to “ride an elephant” or “go after penguins” underscores the profound interconnection between cognitive and behavioural domains [57,58,59,60,61]. This facet of the pragmatist approach to the learning process can be conceptualised as a proactive engagement with a situation inscribed in one’s experience, thereby influencing the subsequent structuring of knowledge and shaping it as a formidable challenge [57,58,59,60,61,62]. The emphasis placed by students on partial technical adjustments, predominantly related to specific forms of interaction with environmental elements, aligns with this active learning model. In this theoretical framework, immersive collaborative virtual reality is not a universal solution for education [55,63], but rather an indispensable part of it [64].