1.1 Research Background
Although China is more educated than it was in the past, this does not necessarily translate to better education. Due to a variety of historical factors, the educational system in this nation is used to operating in a teach-receive manner, which helps students' views become more solidified (Kirkpatrick & Zang, 2011). However, one of the main objectives of higher education is to foster critical thinking(Tiruneh D T et al ., 2014) As a result, when students join higher education, teachers must invest a lot of time in encouraging their critical thinking skills. Unfortunately, despite four years of training, we have yet to achieve the intended outcomes(K Fan & BH See, 2022).
The majority of educators concur that critical thinking is a higher-order cognitive talent important for student's future success in areas including communication, cooperation, and careers (Scheeder L, 2017). Especially in this age of information explosion, critical thinking guides students to “deciding what to believe or do” (Yang et al., 2008), to evaluate the arguments of others and their own, to resolve conflicts, and come to well-reasoned resolutions to complex problems (Allegretti & Frederick, 1995).
1.2 Virtual Reality (VR)
The dynamic nature of virtual reality has resulted in a constant evolution of both its definition and classification (Kaplan-Rakowski & Gruber, 2019). In the past, Webster’s New Universal Dictionary (1989) defines virtual as “being in essence or effect, but not in fact.” Subsequently, Sherman & Craig (2018) positioned virtual reality as “a medium composed of interactive computer simulations that sense the participant’s position and actions and replace or augment the feedback to one or more senses, giving the feeling of being mentally immersed or present in the simulation (a virtual world).” However, Kaplan-Rakowski and Gruber (2020), two simple definitions based on the two categories of VR, LiVR, and HiVR, were proposed. They define LiVR as “a computer-generated three-dimensional virtual space experienced through standard audio-visual equipment, such as a desktop computer with a two-dimensional monitor” and HiVR as” a computer-generated 360° virtual space that can be perceived as being spatially realistic, due to the high immersion afforded by a head-mounted device”. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that the definition of VR will continue to be iterated in the future. Because of the iteration of VR devices with development engines such as Unity being available (Chen, 2005), VR devices that used to be too expensive have become readily affordable. In the meantime, VR is being utilized in a variety of fields such as medicine, the military, and education. In particular, the immersive nature of VR is extremely well coupled with the “learner-centered” approach to education (Henson, 2003), which could promote learner engagement and motivation (Cheang, 2009). In other words, it gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in different environments and get first-hand experience. Recently, VR technology has recently gained increasing popularity among educationalists (Checa & Bustillo, 2019; Snelson & Hsu, 2020).
Williams (2018) used VR to educate emergency skills and identify potential difficulties; VR as a Virtual tour media is ideally suited for usage in the Tour Guide simulation learning process (Taufiqurrohman & Sumbawati, 2020). Pavlova (2020) indicates “a ‘virtual immersion’ in authentic environments will allow students to grasp career-specific vocabulary when studying vocabulary” There is no doubt that VR is becoming a regular aid to teaching and learning. A series of education scholars affirm that VR teaching can stimulate students' interest and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of learning (Almira et al., 2021; Darojat et al., 2022; Saepuloh & Salsabila, 2022). In the future, the availability of Virtual Reality-based learning media will serve as a benchmark for the development of more creative learning media. Learning media based on virtual reality can serve as a model for the creation of more creative learning media (Bramantya, 2020).