A Phenomenological Study of Learner's Virtual Place Experience

Introduction

Place-based learning is a crucial component of architectural education, as it allows learners to understand a place's physical, historical, philosophical, cultural, and social dimensions (Johnson, 2012; Zandvliet, 2014). According to Baker (2014), this type of learning involves establishing a connection between the learner and the place by exploring its unique qualities and expressing personal perceptions and responses. Nikezić and Marković (2015) emphasize the importance of place-based learning in expanding students' spatial-cultural knowledge and promoting environmental literacy and responsibility.

Traditionally, architectural education utilizes site visits and academic trips to facilitate knowledge dissemination. Site visits involve investigating a specific location with a defined problem to provide the basis for problem-solving exercises (Yusoff, Ja’afar, & Mohammad, 2019). During these visits, learners analyse the site's physical attributes (such as the environment and topography) and non-physical attributes (such as demographics, culture, and history), allowing them to relate their understanding to the real world.

However, physical visits to a site may be affected by various factors such as accessibility, safety, mobility, resource limitations, and environmental distractions, according to Fiorillo, Rizzi, & Achille (2021); Langran & DeWitt (2020); and Zhao et al. (2020). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these challenges have intensified, prompting researchers to explore alternative approaches like virtual place-based learning, as Squire (2022) and Wallgrün et al. (2022) suggested. Connolly (2020) believes that this alternative method allows educators to create significant lessons by utilizing the local context, history, culture, and environment while adapting to the current educational situation. Koh et al. (2022) argue that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual learning environment has enhanced students' problem-solving, analytical, design-thinking, and communication abilities.

A virtual place is a setting created through a computer-generated environment that represents real places using symbols (Ghani, Rafi, & Woods, 2016). Janz (2018) proposes that a virtual place is convincing enough to make users believe they exist in a computer-generated space, allowing for meaningful interaction. Šašinka et al. (2019) suggest that learning in a virtual place goes beyond the limitations of time and space. It offers an alternative to navigating geospatial learning activities when physical access to a location is difficult (Carbonell-Carrera & Saorín, 2017).

According to this research, “virtual place experience” (VPE) refers to the phenomenological attainment of interacting with a virtually simulated place. VPE is a crucial element of virtual place-based learning, allowing users to “feel” their presence or sense of being in the virtual location. Previous studies have indicated that virtual place-based learning has a positive impact on learners' place cognition, as noted by Christofi et al. (2018), Hillstrom (2019), Fiorillo et al. (2021), Park (2019), Zhao et al. (2020). Therefore, the potential of VPE as an effective learning approach should be recognized and further investigated.