Modelling the Relationship Between Learning Styles and Performance in Virtual Reality: A Case Study on Underwater Engineering

Virtual Reality (VR) offers unique opportunities to personalize learning by adapting instructions to individual learning styles. This study explores the relationships between learning styles, cognitive load, and learning outcomes in a VR environment designed for engineering education. Drawing on Kolb’s experiential learning theory, the research investigates how immersion and flow, in relation to learning styles, influence learning outcomes within the Submarine Simulator, a VR-based educational tool for underwater engineering. To enhance VR-based instructional design, this study proposes aggregating existing and validated models, such as Kolb’s framework, to develop new models tailored specifically for VR learning environments. The research aims to highlight the interplay of these variables in a learning process focused on acquiring knowledge in the STEM field, specifically hydrodynamics, through designing and operating a simulated submarine model in VR. A cohort of 26 students from MINES Paris - PSL participated in a three-phase testing process to evaluate the educational effectiveness of an original VR software designed to support learning in underwater engineering. The findings contribute to understanding how learning styles impact learner engagement and performance, and how VR environments can be optimized through adaptive instructional design informed by these novel VR-specific models.