Efficacy Study
When the mind wanders to unrelated topics during instruction, learning researchers call it offtask thinking (OTT) and they have identified it as a major obstacle to learning. Not much is known, however, about OTT in the new learning medium of virtual reality (VR). In 2023, Transfr conducted research to compare OTT in its VR training simulations versus other learning scenarios. Research participants played Transfr sims and reported their OTT on a scale from 1-7, with higher numbers indicating more OTT. Participants reported dramatically lower incidences of OTT compared to data from a Harvard University study in which undergraduates watched a recorded lecture.
In follow-up research, participants at the Transfr VR Lab either played a Diesel Technology sim or studied an educational webpage that explained how to perform the same task as the sim. Participants had two chances to play the sim and two chances to study the webpage. They reported their OTT after each sim play or webpage study. On both occasions, participants reported lower levels of OTT and there was a significant main effect of learning activity (sim or webpage), F(1, 19) = 5.00, p = .037. Sim play was associated with a ~33% reduction in OTT compared to website usage.
“Preparedness,” the notion of being prepared to attempt a task that you’ve just been trained in, relies on several different factors. However, reduced off-task thinking can help contribute to an overall sense that a learner has ingested more training content after a session.
The importance of minimizing OTT during learning is revealed by an additional finding: OTT ratings were significantly negatively correlated with participants’ self-ratings of their own preparedness to perform the diesel technology task they had trained on, r(21) = -.49, p = .025. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the more participants felt their mind had wandered, the less prepared they felt.
Cultivating a mindset of readiness involves not just acquiring skills but also maintaining focus during training sessions... Minimizing off-task thinking may contribute to learners' perception of being well-prepared for tackling new tasks.
