A landmark reference work on learning and training in immersive virtual reality based on evidence and empirical research.

The Handbook of Learning in Virtual Reality is the first comprehensive, evidence-based compendium of research on learning in immersive virtual reality (VR) for academic instruction and professional training. Written by leading researchers from around the globe, this landmark reference work synthesizes the rapidly growing body of the scientific literature on learning with VR, aiming to define and shape this emerging educational technology discipline.

Jan Plass, Richard Mayer, and Guido Makransky establish a solid empirical and theoretical foundation for VR-based learning. They focus on immersive VR-using head-mounted displays like the Meta Quest or HTC Vive-and examine how the subjective feeling of presence impacts learning outcomes.

The book provides foundational overviews, a theoretical framework spanning cognitive, affective, and social processes, and crucial media comparison research (VR versus conventional media). It delves into value-added instructional design features-such as collaboration, generative activities, virtual agents, and haptic input-that boost learning outcomes. Finally, it explores disciplinary-based applications in medicine, science, second language learning, and job training, alongside special topics like accessibility, assessment, and the use of VR with culturally diverse populations.

Jan L. Plass is the Paulette Goddard Chair in Digital Media and Learning Sciences and Professor at New York University, the founding director of the CREATE Center for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technology in Education, and codirects the Games for Learning Institute. He is coauthor, with Slava Kalyuga, of Rethinking Cognitive Load Theory and the lead editor of the Handbook of Game-based Learning (MIT Press).

Richard E. Mayer is Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author or coauthor of more than 600 publications and 35 books, including Multimedia Learning, Learning as a Generative Activity, The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, and Applying the Science of Learning.

Guido Makransky is a professor, leader of the Virtual Learning Lab, and head of the SCOPE section (Social, Cultural, Organizational, Personality and Educational Psychology) at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen. He has coauthored over 40 international journal articles on the topic of learning with virtual reality. He has also been the PI or Co-PI on over 15 research grants related to learning with VR.