Feedback in Immersive Virtual Reality Learning Environments – A Scoping Review

Virtual reality (VR) is becoming an increasingly relevant environment for learning, prompting growing interest in how learning tasks place in immersive settings and how it can be supported effectively. Feedback, as a core component of successful learning, plays a crucial role in the effectiveness of technology-supported learning environments. This scoping review provides an overview on the influence of feedback on learning in VR, examining learning domains, feedback content and presentation design, research objectives and designs, and key findings. Relevant online databases were systematically searched, and 70 publications were included in the analysis. Most studies were conducted in domains where VR offers clear advantages over real-world settings, such as reducing physical risk in medical or emergency training, lowering costs in sports or skill acquisition, saving personal resources in educational contexts, and enabling remote access to training. The studies differed widely in terms of the information provided and how the feedback content was presented. Previous research has primarily taken a technology-driven approach, emphasizing system development and preliminary evaluations of feedback implementation. These studies show that VR systems with feedback show advantages in terms of more positive learners’ experiences and performance. However, only a small number of studies applied controlled experimental designs to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of feedback, the conditions under which it works best, and influencing factors. To advance the field, future research should adopt theory-driven approaches and complex experimental designs taking into account individual learner conditions as well as the affordances of VR environments.