Investigating the influence of virtual reality (VR) on engagement and enjoyment in badminton – A comparison of VR and non-VR

Background and purpose The integration of virtual reality (VR) in physical education has the potential to increase students' engagement and enjoyment in sport. However, research comparing the effectiveness of virtual reality with conventional learning methods in badminton is limited. This study aims to analyse the impact of virtual reality-based learning, compared to traditional methods, on students' engagement and enjoyment in badminton. Material and methods This quasi-experimental study involved 56 primary school students (aged 10-12 years) who were divided into two groups: the virtual reality group (n=28), who used virtual reality simulation in badminton training, and the non-virtual reality group (n=28), who followed conventional learning. Student engagement was assessed with the sport engagement scale (SES), whereas satisfaction was evaluated through the physical activity satisfaction scale (PACES). The data analysis comprised descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, and the Mann-Whitney U test for group comparison. Results The research findings show that the virtual reality group exhibited a more pronounced enhancement in participation and enjoyment of the sport relative to the non-VR group (p < 0.05). Independent t-tests showed that VR had a moderate to large effect on engagement (d = 0.75) and a large effect on enjoyment (d = 0.85), which shows that VR can improve the badminton learning experience. Conclusions Virtual reality-based learning significantly increased students' engagement and enjoyment in badminton compared to conventional methods. These results suggest that virtual reality can be an effective tool in improving physical education, especially in schools with limited sports facilities. Further research is needed to explore the long-term impacts as well as optimal strategies in integrating virtual reality into the physical education curriculum.