Integrating educational theories with virtual reality: Enhancing engineering education and VR laboratories

Immersive technologies, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and extended reality (XR), create realistic digital experiences by overlaying digital elements. This study aims to highlight the benefits of utilizing VR technology in education, particularly in universities and higher education institutions, by integrating VR with educational theories to create engaging and interactive learning experiences that enhance understanding and retention. This review includes a comprehensive analysis of 103 works, synthesizing existing literature to evaluate the suitability of various educational approaches and theories for implementation in VR-based educational applications. The findings emphasize VR's potential to transform learning by providing immersive experiences that bridge different domains and encourage engagement. By integrating learning theory into VR development, meaningful learning environments can be created, improving student understanding and retention across diverse learning settings. The study concludes that the combination of technology and educational theories provides a novel approach to motivate students and foster deep learning in VR laboratories.