Abstract
We describe a novel course design that utilizes the Metaverse as a learning and research environment to explore immersive meetings using virtual reality (VR) headsets. In this course, students were randomly assigned to zero-history groups to investigate attendee experiences, group participation, and emergent group entitativity as a key factor for interaction behavior in the Metaverse. They gained hands-on experience with VR technology, insights into the opportunities and challenges for group collaboration, and analyzed interaction dynamics based on other teams’ observed immersive meeting. Our preliminary findings provide descriptive information on team members’ meeting satisfaction, individual VR experiences (i.e., avatar perception, simulator sickness, and task load) as well as self-reported and observed group entitativity. We discuss the opportunities and challenges of the Metaverse for teaching about group dynamics specifically and enabling immersive learning scenarios more generally. Crossing disciplinary bridges by integrating research on Human–Computer Interaction, group dynamics, and workplace meetings contributes to a better scientific understanding on how the Metaverse and emerging technologies can shape educational programs. We close with an outlook for future research, focusing on inclusion, familiarization, and engagement as key goals of designing learning experiences in the Metaverse.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
In both approaches, the users’ upper bodies are extracted from the 2D videos and fused in a simulated shared space.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
References
Allen, J. A., & Lehmann-Willenbrock, N. (2023). The key features of workplace meetings: Conceptualizing the why, how, and what of meetings at work. Organizational Psychology Review, 20413866221129231.
Allen, J. A., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., & Rogelberg, S. G. (2015). The Cambridge handbook of meeting science. Cambridge University Press.
Bartneck, C., Kulic ́, D., Croft, E., & Zoghbi, S. (2009). Measurement instruments for the anthropomorphism, animacy, likeability, perceived intelligence, and perceived safety of robots. International Journal of Social Robotics, 1(1), 71–81.
Beck, S., Kunert, A., Kulik, A., & Froehlich, B. (2013). Immersive group-to-group telepresence. IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 19(4), 616–625.
Blanchard, A. L. (2021). The effects of COVID-19 on virtual working within online groups. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 24(2), 290–296.
Blanchard, A. L., & Allen, J. A. (2022). The entitativity underlying meetings: Meetings as key in the lifecycle of effective workgroups. Organizational Psychology Review, 20413866221101341.
Blanchard, A. L., Caudill, L. E., & Walker, L. S. (2020). Developing an entitativity measure and distinguishing it from antecedents and outcomes within online and face-to-face groups. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 23(1), 91–108.
Blanchard, A. L., & McBride, A. (2020). Putting the “Group” in group meetings: entitativity in face-to-face and online meetings. In Managing meetings in organizations. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Blascovich, J., & Bailenson, J. (2011). Infinite reality: Avatars, eternal life, new worlds, and the dawn of the virtual revolution. Harper Collins.
Boulton, C. A., Kent, C., & Williams, H. T. (2018). Virtual learning environment engagement and learning outcomes at a ‘bricks-and-mortar’ university. Computers & Education, 126, 129–142.
Bower, A. B. (2001). Highly attractive models in advertising and the women who loathe them: The implications of negative affect for spokesperson effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 30(3), 51–63.
Burgess, A., Bleasel, J., Hickson, J., Guler, C., Kalman, E., & Haq, I. (2020). Team-based learning replaces problem-based learning at a large medical school. BMC Medical Education, 20(1), 1–8.
Chen, C. J. (2010). Theoretical bases for using virtual reality in education. Themes in Science and Technology Education, 2(1–2), 71–90.
Drake-Bridges, E., Strelzoff, A., & Sulbaran, T. (2011). Teaching marketing through a micro-economy in virtual reality. Journal of Marketing Education, 33(3), 295–311.
Edmondson, A., & Daley, G. (2020). How to foster psychological safety in virtual meetings. Harvard Business Review, 25.
Fuchs, H., State, A., & Bazin, J.-C. (2014). Immersive 3D telepresence. IEEE Computer, 47(7), 46–52.
Galesic, M., & Bosnjak, M. (2009). Effects of questionnaire length on participation and indicators of response quality in a web survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 73(2), 349–360.
Garmston, R. J. (2007). Balanced conversations promote shared ownership. The Learning Professional, 28(4), 57.
Girvan, C., Tangney, B., & Savage, T. (2013). Slurtles: Supporting constructionist learning in second life. Computers & Education, 61, 115–132.
Guerin, T. F. (2017). A demonstration of how virtual meetings can enhance sustainability in a corporate context. Environmental Quality Management, 27(1), 75–81.
Han, E., Miller, M. R., Ram, N., Nowak, K. L., & Bailenson, J. N. Understanding group behavior in virtual reality: A large-scale, longitudinal study in the metaverse. In 72nd annual international communication association conference, Paris, France.
Harrington, C. M., Kavanagh, D. O., Quinlan, J. F., Ryan, D., Dicker, P., O’Keeffe, D., Traynor, O., & Tierney, S. (2018). Development and evaluation of a trauma decision-making simulator in oculus virtual reality. The American Journal of Surgery, 215(1), 42–47.
Hart, S. G. (2006). Nasa-task load index (nasa-tlx); 20 years later. In Proceedings of the human factors and ergonomics society annual meeting (Vol. 50, pp. 904–908). Sage publications Sage CA.
Hennig-Thurau, T., Aliman, D. N., Herting, A. M., Cziehso, G. P., Linder, M., & Kübler, R. V. (2023). Social interactions in the metaverse: Framework, initial evidence, and research roadmap. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1–25.
Herrera, F., Oh, S. Y., & Bailenson, J. N. (2020). Effect of behavioral realism on social interactions inside collaborative virtual environments. PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality, 27(2), 163–182.
Hertel, G., Geister, S., & Konradt, U. (2005). Managing virtual teams: A review of current empirical research. Human Resource Management Review, 15(1), 69–95.
Hickman, L., & Akdere, M. (2018). Developing intercultural competencies through virtual reality: Internet of things applications in education and learning. In 2018 15th learning and technology conference (L&T) (pp. 24–28). IEEE.
Jabotinsky, H. Y., & Sarel, R. (2020). Shall we meet? An experimental comparison of video conferences and face-to-face meetings. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Jensen, L., & Konradsen, F. (2018). A review of the use of virtual reality head-mounted displays in education and training. Education and Information Technologies, 23, 1515–1529.
Kennedy, R. S., Lane, N. E., Berbaum, K. S., & Lilienthal, M. G. (1993). Simulator sickness questionnaire: An enhanced method for quantifying simulator sickness. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 3(3), 203–220.
Kolb, D. A., & Yeganeh, B. (2012). Deliberate experiential learning. In Contemporary organizational behavior in action.
Könings, K. D., Popa, D., Gerken, M., Giesbers, B., Rienties, B. C., van der Vleuten, C. P., & van Merriënboer, J. J. (2016). Improving supervision for students at a distance: Videoconferencing for group meetings. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 53(4), 388–399.
Krebs, S. A., Hobman, E. V., & Bordia, P. (2006). Virtual teams and group member dissimilarity: Consequences for the development of trust. Small Group Research, 37(6), 721–741.
Kye, B., Han, N., Kim, E., Park, Y., & Jo, S. (2021). Educational applications of metaverse: possibilities and limitations. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 18.
Latoschik, M. E., Roth, D., Gall, D., Achenbach, J., Waltemate, T., & Botsch, M. (2017). The effect of avatar realism in immersive social virtual realities. In Proceedings of the 23rd ACM symposium on virtual reality software and technology (pp. 1–10). ACM.
Lavelle, J. (2020). Gartner CFO survey reveals 74% intend to shift some employees to remote work permanently. Gartner, April 3.
Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., & Allen, J. A. (2014). How fun are your meetings? Investigating the relationship between humor patterns in team interactions and team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(6), 1278–1287.
Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Allen, J. A., & Kauffeld, S. (2013). A sequential analysis of procedural meeting communication: How teams facilitate their meetings. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 41(4), 365–388.
Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Allen, J. A., & Meinecke, A. L. (2014). Observing culture: Differences in US-American and German team meeting behaviors. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 17(2), 252–271.
Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Allen, J.A., & van Vugt, M. (2020). The origins and evolutionary significance of team meetings in organizations. In Managing meetings in organizations (Vol. 20, pp. 3–25). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Hung, H., & Keyton, J. (2017). New frontiers in analyzing dynamic group interactions: Bridging social and computer science. Small Group Research, 48(5), 519–531.
Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Rogelberg, S. G., Allen, J. A., & Kello, J. E. (2018). The critical importance of meetings to leader and organizational success. Organizational Dynamics, 47(1), 32–36.
Lombard, M., Ditton, T., & Weinstein, L. (2009). Measuring presence: The temple presence inventory. In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Presence (PRESENCE) (pp. 1–15).
Luebstorf, S., Allen, J. A., Eden, E., Kramer, W. S., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Lehmann- Willenbrock, N. (2023). Digging into “zoom fatigue”: A qualitative exploration of remote work challenges and virtual meeting stressors. Merits, 3(1), 151–166.
Mangold, P. (2018).. Das unsichtbare entdecken durch werkzeuggestützte wissenschaftliche beobachtung. In H. Böttger, K. Jensen, & T. Jensen (Eds.), Mindful Evolution. Konferenzband. Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt.
Massaro, D. (2019). Experiencing reality in virtual reality. The American Journal of Psychology, 132(4), 495.
Meinecke, A. L., Allen, J. A., & Lehmann-Willenbrock, N. (2020). Managing meetings in organizations. Emerald Group Publishing.
Mroz, J. E., Allen, J. A., Verhoeven, D. C., & Shuffler, M. L. (2018). Do we really need another meeting? The science of workplace meetings. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(6), 484–491.
Mystakidis, S. (2022). Metaverse. Encyclopedia, 2(1), 486–497.
Mystakidis, S., Berki, E., & Valtanen, J.-P. (2021). Deep and meaningful e-learning with social virtual reality environments in higher education: A systematic literature review. Applied Sciences, 11(5), 2412.
Nowak, K. L. (2003). Sex categorization in computer mediated communication (CMC): Exploring the utopian promise. Media Psychology, 5(1), 83–103.
Otsuka, K. (2016). MMSpace: Kinetically-augmented telepresence for small group-to-group conversations. In 2016 IEEE virtual reality (VR) (pp. 19–28).
Papachristos, N. M., Vrellis, I., & Mikropoulos, T. A. (2017). A comparison between oculus rift and a low-cost smartphone vr headset: immersive user experience and learning. In 2017 IEEE 17th international conference on advanced learning technologies (ICALT) (pp. 477–481). IEEE.
Parong, J., & Mayer, R. E. (2018). Learning science in immersive virtual reality. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(6), 785.
Pena, A. M., & Ragan, E. D. (2017). Contextualizing construction accident reports in virtual environments for safety education. In 2017 IEEE virtual reality (VR) (pp. 389–390). IEEE.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879.
Poeschl, S., & Doering, N. (2015). Measuring co-presence and social presence in virtual environments–psychometric construction of a german scale for a fear of public speaking scenario. Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine, 2015, 58–63.
Premo, J., Wyatt, B. N., Horn, M., & Wilson-Ashworth, H. (2022). Which group dynamics matter: social predictors of student achievement in team-based undergraduate science classrooms. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 21(3), ar51.
Radianti, J., Majchrzak, T. A., Fromm, J., & Wohlgenannt, I. (2020). A systematic review of immersive virtual reality applications for higher education: Design elements, lessons learned, and research agenda. Computers & Education, 147, 103778.
Reed, K. M., & Allen, J. A. (2021). Suddenly virtual: making remote meetings work. John Wiley & Sons.
Rizzo, A., & Bouchard, S. (2019). Virtual reality for psychological and neurocognitive interventions. Springer Nature.
Rogelberg, S. G., Allen, J. A., Shanock, L., Scott, C., & Shuffler, M. (2010). Employee satisfaction with meetings: A contemporary facet of job satisfaction. Human Resource Management: Published in Cooperation with the School of Business Administration, The University of Michigan and in Alliance with the Society of Human Resources Management, 49(2), 149–172.
Rosen, B., Furst, S., & Blackburn, R. (2007). Overcoming barriers to knowledge sharing in virtual teams. Organizational Dynamics, 36(3), 259–273.
Roth, D., Lugrin, J.-L., Galakhov, D., Hofmann, A., Bente, G., Latoschik, M. E., & Fuhrmann, A. (2016). Avatar realism and social interaction quality in virtual reality. In 2016 IEEE virtual reality (VR) (pp. 277–278). IEEE.
Russell, D., Buxton, B., Neustaedter, C., Tang, J., Olson, G., & Gergle, D. (2021). Panel: Videoconferencing in the Age of COVID: How well has it worked out? In ACM CHI virtual conference on human factors in computing systems.
Scacchi, W. (2016). Virtual meetings. In Handbook of science and technology convergence (pp. 1–11).
Sedlàk, M., Sašinka, C., Stachoň, Z., Chmeĺk, J., & Doležal, M. (2022). Collaborative and individual learning of geography in immersive virtual reality: An effectiveness study. Plos one, 17(10):e0276267.
Shepherd, C., & Green, P. (2011). Online meetings: a facilitator’s guide. Lulu.com.
Sheridan, T. B., et al. (1992). Musings on telepresence and virtual presence. Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environment, 1(1), 120–125.
Shockley, K. M., Gabriel, A. S., Robertson, D., Rosen, C. C., Chawla, N., Ganster, M. L., & Ezerins, M. E. (2021). The fatiguing effects of camera use in virtual meetings: A within-person field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(8), 1137.
Slater, M., Banakou, D., Beacco, A., Gallego, J., Macia-Varela, F., & Oliva, R. (2022). A separate reality: An update on place illusion and plausibility in virtual reality. Frontiers in Virtual Reality—Virtual Reality and Human Behaviour.
Slater, M., & Steed, A. (2000). A virtual presence counter. Presence, 9(5), 413–434.
Sriworapong, S., Pyae, A., Thirasawasd, A., & Keereewan, W. (2022).. Investigating students’ engagement, enjoyment, and sociability in virtual reality-based systems: A comparative usability study of spatial.io, gather.town, and zoom. In Well-being in the information society: When the mind breaks: 9th international conference, WIS 2022, Turku, Finland, August 25–26, 2022, Proceedings (pp. 140–157). Springer.
Stein, R. E., Colyer, C. J., & Manning, J. (2016). Student accountability in team-based learning classes. Teaching Sociology, 44(1), 28–38.
Steinicke, F. (2016). Being really virtual. Springer.
Steinicke, F. (2021). B(l)ending realities. In Keynote of the IEEE international conference on virtual reality and 3D user interfaces (IEEE VR).
Steinicke, F., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., & Meinecke, A. (2020). A first pilot study to compare virtual group meetings using video conferences and (Immersive) virtual reality. ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction, 9, 1–2.
Storm, A., & Hildebrandt, S. (2020). Digitalisierung und Homeoffice in der Corona-Krise: Sonderanalyse zur Situation in der Arbeitswelt vor und während der Pandemie.
Storper, M., & Venables, A. J. (2004). Buzz: Face-to-face contact and the urban economy. Journal of Economic Geography, 4(4), 351–370.
Strojny, P. M., Duz ̇man ́ska-Misiarczyk, N., Lipp, N., & Strojny, A. (2020). Moderators of social facilitation effect in virtual reality: Co-presence and realism of virtual agents. Front. Psychology, 11, 1252.
Taherdoost, H. (2016). How to design and create an effective survey/questionnaire; a step by step guide. International Journal of Academic Research in Management (IJARM), 5(4), 37–41.
Tlili, A., Huang, R., Shehata, B., Liu, D., Zhao, J., Metwally, A. H. S., Wang, H., Denden, M., Bozkurt, A., Lee, L.-H., et al. (2022). Is metaverse in education a blessing or a curse: A combined content and bibliometric analysis. Smart Learning Environments, 9(1), 1–31.
Tu, J. (2022). Meetings in the metaverse: Exploring online meeting spaces through meaningful inter- actions in gather town. Master’s thesis, University of Waterloo.
van Knippenberg, D., & Hoever, I. J. (2017). Team diversity and team creativity. In Team creativity and innovation (p. 41).
White, M. (2014). The management of virtual teams and virtual meetings. Business Information Review, 31(2), 111–117.
Acknowledgements
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg under the Excellence Strategy of the Federal Government and the Laender.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix
Appendix
8.5.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Grabowski, M., Steinicke, F., Rings, S., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N. (2024). Exploring Immersive Student Meetings in the Metaverse: Experiential Learning and Emergent Group Entitativity. In: Liu, D., Huang, R., Metwally, A.H.S., Tlili, A., Fan Lin, E. (eds) Application of the Metaverse in Education. Smart Computing and Intelligence. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1298-4_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1298-4_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-97-1297-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-97-1298-4
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)