{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T02:03:15Z","timestamp":1790128995960,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":67,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,26]],"date-time":"2025-09-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758844800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"The Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Research youth fund project","award":["24YJC880168"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24YJC880168"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.mdpi.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The potential of Virtual Reality (VR) in enhancing learning and training is being widely explored. The relationship of immersion, as one of the core technical features of VR, with knowledge types has not been fully explored. This study aims to investigate how VR immersion levels (high vs. low) affect the acquisition of declarative and procedural knowledge, as well as related cognitive and affective factors. A 2 \u00d7 2 mixed design was adopted, with 64 college students who had no VR experience and no background in professional medical knowledge being randomly assigned to either a high-immersion group (using HTC Vive Pro headsets) or a low-immersion group (using desktop monitors). Participants completed learning tasks on thyroid and related diseases (declarative knowledge) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (procedural knowledge), followed by knowledge tests and self-report questionnaires to measure presence, motivation, self-efficacy, cognitive load, and emotional states. Results showed that high immersion significantly improved learning outcomes for both types of knowledge with large effect sizes. In both knowledge domains, high immersion also enhanced presence, intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and positive emotions. However, cognitive load was reduced only for declarative knowledge, and no significant effects were observed for self-regulation. These findings highlight the differential impact of VR immersion on knowledge acquisition and provide insights for optimizing VR-based educational interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs15101322","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,26]],"date-time":"2025-09-26T14:50:38Z","timestamp":1758898238000},"page":"1322","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["The Impact of Virtual Reality Immersion on Learning Outcomes: A Comparative Study of Declarative and Procedural Knowledge Acquisition"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6051-1126","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nengbao","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Humanities, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenya","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Renying","family":"Kang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijsu.2016.03.034","article-title":"Virtual reality training in laparoscopic surgery: A systematic review & meta-analysis","volume":"29","author":"Alaker","year":"2016","journal-title":"International Journal of Surgery"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"919","DOI":"10.1080\/0144929X.2016.1212931","article-title":"Virtual reality systems enhance students\u2019 achievements in engineering education","volume":"35","author":"Alhalabi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Behaviour & Information Technology"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"369","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.89.4.369","article-title":"Acquisition of cognitive skill","volume":"89","author":"Anderson","year":"1982","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104121","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compedu.2020.104121","article-title":"Immersive virtual reality as a tool to learn problem-solving skills","volume":"164","author":"Keane","year":"2021","journal-title":"Computers & Education"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.2190\/EC.38.3.c","article-title":"Development and initial validation of the online learning value and self-efficacy scale","volume":"38","author":"Artino","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Educational Computing Research"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bagher, M. 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