Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Open Education and Science in the Digital Age: Virtual Reality and Competency Development in Physiology Learning within Health Sciences Cover

Open Education and Science in the Digital Age: Virtual Reality and Competency Development in Physiology Learning within Health Sciences

Open Access
|Mar 2026

References

  1. Albarracin-Acero, DA, Romero-Toledo, FA, Saavedra-Bautista, CE and Ariza-Echeverri, EA. 2024. ‘Virtual reality in the classroom: Transforming the teaching of electrical circuits in the digital age’. Future Internet, 16(8): 279. DOI: 10.3390/fi16080279
  2. Antón-Sancho, Á, Vergara, D and Fernández-Arias, P. 2024. ‘Quantitative analysis of the use of virtual reality environments among higher education professors’. Smart Learning Environments, 11(13). DOI: 10.1186/s40561-024-00299-5
  3. Cabrera-Duffaut, A, Pinto Llorente, AM and Iglesias Rodríguez, A. 2020. ‘Efficiency in the application of virtual reality in the teaching processes to generate competences in the university environment’. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 10081013. DOI: 10.1145/3434780.3436608
  4. Cabrera-Duffaut, A, Pinto-Llorente, AM and Iglesias-Rodríguez, A. 2024. ‘Immersive learning platforms: Analyzing virtual reality contribution to competence development in higher education – A systematic literature review’. Frontiers in Education, 9: 1391560. DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1391560
  5. Castañeda, L and Selwyn, N. 2018. ‘More than tools? Making sense of the ongoing digitizations of higher education’. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 15(1): 110. DOI: 10.1186/s41239-018-0109-y
  6. Concepción, S, Mena, M, Carlos, J, Escobar, M, Ceballos Vélez, A, Navarro Angarita, V, Isabel, A, Caro, G and Sifuentes Da Silva, ME. 2023. ‘Generic competences in university students from Barranquilla, Colombia’. Qeios. DOI: 10.32388/B56A57
  7. Forsler, I. 2024. ‘Virtual reality in education and the co-construction of immediacy’. Postdigital Science and Education, 121. DOI: 10.1007/s42438-024-00492-2
  8. Ghazali, A, Nor, N, Aziz, K and Tse Kian, N. 2024. ‘The usage of virtual reality in engineering education’. Cogent Education, 11(1). DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2024.2319441
  9. González-Pérez, LI, Ramírez-Montoya, MS and García-Peñalvo, FJ. 2022. ‘Habilitadores tecnológicos 4.0 para impulsar la educación abierta: Aportaciones para las recomendaciones de la UNESCO’. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 25(2): 2348. DOI: 10.5944/RIED.25.2.33088
  10. Haile, ZT. 2023. ‘Power analysis and exploratory research’. Journal of Human Lactation, 39(4): 579583. DOI: 10.1177/08903344231195625
  11. Hegade, P, Abirami, AM, Kaur, R and Shettar, A. 2024. ‘Understanding technological evolution in teaching: A qualitative data analysis’. Journal of Engineering Education Transformations, 37: 707712. DOI: 10.16920/JEET/2024/V37IS2/24110
  12. Hyytinen, H, Tuononen, T and Braun, E. 2023. ‘Editorial: Generic skills in higher education’. Frontiers in Education, 8: 1162156. DOI: 10.3389/FEDUC.2023.1162156/BIBTEX
  13. Jensen, L and Konradsen, F. 2018. ‘A review of the use of virtual reality head-mounted displays in education and training’. Education and Information Technologies, 23(4): 15151529. DOI: 10.1007/s10639-017-9676-0
  14. Johnson-Glenberg, M. 2018. ‘Immersive VR and education: Embodied design principles that include gesture and hand controls’. Frontiers Robotics AI, 5: 375272. DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2018.00081
  15. Jumman, S, Mostafa, K, Tapan, K, Swapna, C, Shuma, R and Somaiyah, S. 2024. ‘Technologies used in education’. IJFMR – International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research, 6(3). DOI: 10.36948/IJFMR.2024.V06I03.22020
  16. Kang, H. 2021. ‘Sample size determination and power analysis using the G*Power software’. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 18. DOI: 10.3352/JEEHP.2021.18.17
  17. Koolivand, H, Shooreshi, MM, Safari-Faramani, R, Borji, M, Mansoory, MS, Moradpoor, H, Bahrami, M and Azizi, SM. 2024. ‘Comparison of the effectiveness of virtual reality-based education and conventional teaching methods in dental education: A systematic review’. BMC Medical Education, 24(1): 8. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-023-04954-2
  18. Li, S, Xia, E, Drake, L, Erickson, K, Ortega-Loayza, AG and Mostaghimi, A. 2024. ‘Evaluation of inclusion and exclusion criteria for Pyoderma Gangrenosum in clinical research: A systematic review’. Dermatology, 240(1): 2631. DOI: 10.1159/000534750
  19. Ma, CW, Cheng, PS, Chan, YS and Tipoe, GL. 2023. ‘Virtual reality: A technology to promote active learning of physiology for students across multiple disciplines’. Advances in Physiology Education, 47(3): 594603. DOI: 10.1152/advan.00172.2022
  20. Makransky, G and Mayer, RE. 2022. ‘Benefits of taking a virtual field trip in immersive virtual reality: Evidence for the immersion principle in multimedia learning’. Educational Psychology Review, 34(3): 17711798. DOI: 10.1007/S10648-022-09675-4
  21. Miller, CJ, Smith, SN and Pugatch, M. 2020. ‘Experimental and quasi-experimental designs in implementation research’. Psychiatry Research, 283: 112452. DOI: 10.1016/J.PSYCHRES.2019.06.027
  22. Mohd, K, Ramlie, A, Rahaman, A, Azizi, A and Abdullah, M. 2023. ‘The evolution of technology use in education institutions: Learning method innovation’. Idealogy Journal of Arts and Social Science, 8(1): 94113. DOI: 10.24191/idealogy.v8i1.407
  23. Neha, PG, Khan, IR and Kurubacak, G. 2024. Virtual lifelong learning: Educating society with modern communication technologies. Singapore: Bentham Science Publisher. DOI: 10.2174/97898151965661240101
  24. OECD. 2020. The future of education and skills: Education 2030. OECD. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/.
  25. Pears, M, Antoniou, PE, Schiza, E, Ntakakis, G, Henderson, J, Frangoudes, F, Nikolaidou, MM, Gkougkoudi, E, Pattichis, CS, Bamidis, PD and Konstantinidis, ST. 2024. ‘Virtual reality reusable e-resources for clinical skills training: A mixed-methods evaluation’. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. DOI: 10.1007/s00779-024-01805-9
  26. Phillips, E, Jarden, A and Bowles, T. 2024. ‘A study of virtual reality and the empathetic experience in Australian secondary students’. The Australian Educational Researcher. DOI: 10.1007/s13384-024-00708-1
  27. Pramila-Savukoski, S, Jarva, E, Kuivila, HM, Juntunen, J, Koskenranta, M, Kääriäinen, M and Mikkonen, K. 2024. ‘Generic competence among health sciences students in higher education – A cross-sectional study’. Nurse Education Today, 133: 106036. DOI: 10.1016/J.NEDT.2023.106036
  28. Predescu, SL, Caramihai, SI and Moisescu, MA. 2023. ‘Impact of VR application in an academic context’. Applied Sciences, 13(8): 4748. DOI: 10.3390/APP13084748
  29. Radianti, J, Majchrzak, TA, Fromm, J and Wohlgenannt, I. 2020. ‘A systematic review of immersive virtual reality applications for higher education: Design elements, lessons learned, and research agenda’. Computers & Education, 147: 103778. DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103778
  30. Rahman, R and Islam, MR. 2023. VREd: A virtual reality-based classroom for online education using Unity3D WebGL. Cornell University. DOI: https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.10585v1.
  31. Ramos, RC and Júnior, WLB. 2024. ‘Realidade virtual na educação: Fundamentos, dispositivos, aplicações e inovação no ensino’. RCMOS – Revista Científica Multidisciplinar O Saber, 1(1). DOI: 10.51473/rcmos.v1i1.2024.540
  32. Reichardt, CS, Storage, D and Abraham, D. 2023. ‘Quasi-experimental research’. In: Nichols, AL and Edlund, J (eds.) The Cambridge handbook of research methods and statistics for the social and behavioral sciences. Cambridge University Press. pp. 292313. DOI: 10.1017/9781009010054.015
  33. Serrano-Ausejo, E and Mårell-Olsson, E. 2024. ‘Opportunities and challenges of using immersive technologies to support students’ spatial ability and 21st-century skills in K-12 education’. Education and Information Technologies, 29(5): 55715597. DOI: 10.1007/S10639-023-11981-5/FIGURES/3
  34. Steen, CW, Söderström, K, Stensrud, B, Nylund, IB and Siqveland, J. 2024. ‘The effectiveness of virtual reality training on knowledge, skills, and attitudes of health care professionals and students in assessing and treating mental health disorders: A systematic review’. BMC Medical Education, 24(480). DOI: 10.1186/s12909-024-05423-0
  35. Trevena, L, Paay, J and McDonald, R. 2024. ‘VR interventions aimed to induce empathy: A scoping review’. Virtual Reality, 28(2): 149. DOI: 10.1007/s10055-024-00946-9
  36. UNESCO. 2024. Dubai Declaration on Open Educational Resources (OER): digital public goods and emerging technologies for equitable and inclusive access to knowledge. UNESCO. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000392271?posInSet=1&queryId=N-EXPLORE-acb3aa61-3b89-4ded-99f2-db9ffefc12b1.
  37. Verma, JP and Verma, P. 2020. Use of G*Power Software. In: Verma, JP and Verma, P (eds.) Determining sample size and power in research studies. Springer. pp. 5560. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-5204-5_5
  38. Wang, Y, Wang, T and Shen, H. 2024. ‘Advantages, challenges, and planning of virtual reality technology in education from a constructivist perspective’. Journal of Intelligence and Knowledge Engineering, 2(1): 120. DOI: 10.62517/JIKE.202404118
  39. Yao, M. 2024. ‘Application research of 3D virtual interactive technology in interactive teaching of arts and crafts’. Systems and Soft Computing, 6: 200069. DOI: 10.1016/j.sasc.2023.200069
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.1029 | Journal eISSN: 1365-893X
Language: English
Submitted on: Apr 12, 2025
|
Accepted on: Oct 24, 2025
|
Published on: Mar 20, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2026 Augusto Cabrera-Duffaut, Ana María Pinto-Llorente, Ana Iglesias-Rodríguez, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.