Exploring Immersive Learning: 360° Videos in Culinary Education
Immerse apprentice chefs in a starred restaurant to learn the correct management of fish and test impact on learning while investigating cognitive load.
Duration: March 2022 – December 2024
Status: Completed
Educational Level: Upper Secondary Level – Vocational Education
Topic: Digital Tools
Keywords: Evaluating Effectiveness and Impact of 360° Videos on Psychological Variables, VR – Virtual Reality
Initial Situation
The principle of situatedness in cognition and learning is particularly relevant in vocational education due to the intrinsic link between theory and practice, and it is increasingly explored with immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR). VR in its different forms allows indeed to work on specific professional situations and to expose learners to them in a direct and practical way. Considering the context-dependent nature of memory, investigating the effectiveness of presenting learning and assessment materials within the same VR environment is an additional interesting question. While the potential of computer-generated VR in this context is acknowledged, the use of 360° videos (360°VR), especially when used for assessment of learning, remains almost underexplored. Similarly holds true when thinking about the role intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load play on learning outcomes. These three main topics have both a practice- and a research-oriented direct implication, which we deepen in this project.
Objectives
This study aims to assess the general effectiveness of situatedness through 360°VR on learning, to examine the impact of presenting assessment questions within the VR context using different contextualization backgrounds on answer accuracy, and to investigate how intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load can explain the effect of the immersive medium on learning outcomes.
Method
The project co-developed with teachers a teaching module for apprentice chefs covering receipt, acceptance, and storage of fish, and including 360° video content. A total of 137 apprentice chefs participated in the study, split as follows: one group attended traditional instruction and assessment methods. The other four groups experienced immersive 360°VR instruction; for three out of them the assessment questions were presented either in the same background environment as the learning materials (a professional kitchen), or in unrelated environments (classroom or blank space); the fourth group received a traditional paper-pencil test. Both after the learning and the assessment phases all participants completed questionnaires about cognitive load and other variables.
Results
Findings indicated a significant advantage for contextualized VR instruction over traditional methods in immediate retention (assessment mode being equal). No significant difference across groups was observed in longer-term retention, but this result was probably biased by some intervening variables related to the school-life that we could not control. PLS SEM analysis confirmed a serial mediation model: the 360° video reduced intrinsic cognitive load; the decrease in intrinsic cognitive load lowered extraneous cognitive load; and lower extraneous cognitive load improved test scores. The effect of the immersive medium on learning outcomes was fully explained by the combination of intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load, with no residual direct effects.
Implemented Translation
Researchers from SFUVET and teachers from the Allgemeine Berufsschule Zürich co-designed and developed this project. As a consequence, translation was inherently part of the project from the beginning. Indeed, the study was implemented as part of the regular school program. As a follow-up of this project, apart from the research-oriented initiatives, we delivered presentations of the results to the national conference of chefs’ teachers and developed a new project on using immersive 360°- video materials for the final qualification procedure. This study underscores the potential of contextualized VR for enhancing learning outcomes in vocational education while highlighting the need for continued investigation into its mechanisms and long-term effects. As a research contribution, the study clarifies how the cognitive component of immersive learning models, triggered by the 360° video, explains the learning outcome differences highlighted in prior meta analyses. From a practical viewpoint, this fully ecological design shows that immersive video can raise instructional quality and democratize starred kitchen training opportunities for every vocational student across all culinary schools worldwide.
Candido, V., & Cattaneo, A. (2025). A matter of intrinsic cognitive load: Testing 360° immersive video for learning [Manuscript submitted for publication].
