Development and Evaluation of Collaboration Scripts for Long-distance VR Team Collaboration and Co-creation in Elementary STEM Learning

Due to the pandemic, many students have been forced to study remotely. This study aims to investigate the impact of online collaboration scripts on learning outcomes in virtual reality (VR) co-creation learning activities during distance learning. The collaboration scripts were designed to foster students’ remote teamwork. The participants consisted of 106 Taiwanese sixth-grade elementary students, divided equally into an experimental group and a comparison group. The experiment lasted for seven weeks, with approximately 40 minutes per week dedicated to VR co-creation activities. The experimental group followed online collaboration scripts, while the comparison group engaged in distance learning without scripts. Additionally, the researchers collected students’ learning logs and analyzed behavioral sequences to enhance understanding of their learning behaviors. Epistemic network analysis was employed to analyze group interactions, focusing on Orientation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring, and Evaluation codes. Results revealed significant improvement in the experimental group’s learning achievement and communication skills using online collaboration scripts in VR co-creation learning. The experimental group exhibited a stronger correlation in Planning–Executing, following the script stages, while the comparison group relied more on peer assistance. Overall, the online collaboration scripts could scaffold learning and support effective remote VR learning activities for content co-creation for elementary students.