Transfr conducted a study with 24 community members in Louisville, KY to evaluate whether a person’s learning style affects learning gains from virtual reality (VR). The popular notion of learning styles is that each individual has a preferred way (style) of learning and will learn best when taught in accordance with it (Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2009).
Participants completed The Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire, which assesses learning styles, including Active versus Reflective. As explained by Lyle, Young, Heyden, and McDaniel (2023) in this paper: “Active learners are presumed to understand and remember best when they apply, discuss, or explain information during initial [learning]…”
Playing a Transfr sim requires students to actively apply what they are learning as they learn, raising the question: Do Active and Reflective learners respond differently to playing a sim?
Participants learned two different electrical construction tasks, one by playing a sim and the other by watching a video recording of someone else playing the sim. Participants then returned about two days later to be evaluated on their ability to perform the tasks using real tools and materials.
Participants showed greater learning gain from sim play vs watching, regardless of learning style.*
Participants also reported their levels of enjoyment and attention during sim play and while watching a sim recording. Active and Reflective participants alike enjoyed playing a sim more than watching one. Only the main effect of learning activity (play versus watch) was statistically significant while the interaction between learning activity and learning style was not.*
We’ve shown in numerous studies that playing Transfr sims is a highly effective and enjoyable way to learn. The learning styles study is remarkable because it shows that even people who say they typically prefer to just sit back and think while learning benefit from, and find joy in, highly interactive VR sims.
