Background: This review focused on how immersive head-mounted display virtual reality (VR) was used in post-secondary level education and skill training, with the aim to better understand its state of the art as found from the literature. While numerous studies describe the use of immersive VR within a specific educational setting, they are often standalone events not fully detailed regarding their curricular integration. This review aims to analyse these events, with a focus on immersive VR's incorporation into post-secondary education. Objectives: (O1) Review the existing literature on the use of immersive VR in post-secondary settings, determining where and how it has been used within each educational discipline. This criterion focused on literature featuring the use of immersive VR, due to its influence on a user's perceived levels of presence and imagination. (O2) Identify favorable outcomes from the use of immersive VR when it is compared to other learning methods. (O3) Determine the conceptual rationale (purpose) for each implementation of immersive VR as found throughout the literature. (O4) Identify learning theories and recommendations for the utilization of immersive VR in post-secondary education. Methods: A literature review was undertaken with searches of Education Research Complete, ERIC, MEDLINE, EMBASE, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Web of Science: Core Collection to locate reports on the use of immersive VR in post-secondary curricula. Results: One hundred and nineteen articles were identified, featuring disciplines across Arts and Humanities, Health Sciences, Military and Aerospace, Science and Technology. Thirty five out of 38 experiments reported to have found a positive outcome for immersive VR, after being compared with a non-immersive platform. Each simulation's purpose included one or more of the following designations: skill training, convenience, engagement, safety, highlighting, interactivity, team building, and suggestion. Recommendations for immersive VR in post-secondary education emphasize experiential learning and social constructivist approaches, including student-created virtual environments that are mainly led by the students themselves under team collaboration. Conclusion: Immersive VR brings convenient, engaging, and interactive alternatives to traditional classroom settings as well as offers additional capability over traditional methods. There is a diverse assortment of educational disciplines that have each attempted to harness the power of this technological medium.

Survey data on 1217 adults living in Alberta, Canada were collected by Ipsos Reid Public Affairs and made available to us for analysis. The survey questioned participants on issues related to science including their perceived knowledge of science, attitudes toward science, and trust in science and technology. We developed a structural equation model to account for the causal relations implied by the correlations among the variables in the data set. Results show that trust in generalized science and technology is a large determiner of trust in specific technologies, but that trust in specific technologies is not a determinant of overall trust in science and technology. We also found that attitudes towards science have an effect on trust in generalized science and technology whereas perceived knowledge does not. Education and gender contribute to attitudes supporting an increased personal attachment to science, which was the strongest predictor of trust in our model.

Between 23%–46% of children with cerebral palsy experience sleep problems. Many of the sensory-motor and cognitive features of cerebral palsy (such as immobility, pain, and seizures) act as predisposing factors for sleep problems in this population. This paper presents the background related to the etiology and consequences of sleep problems in children with cerebral palsy. The relationship between pain and sleep is emphasized, as the risk of pain is highly prevalent in children with cerebral palsy. The review concludes with a discussion of the evidence-base for environmental non-pharmacological interventions based on light, temperature, sound and bedding to promote sleep for children with cerebral palsy.

Objective. This study aimed to explore the mental health status, coping strategies, and social support of international students in Canada. Participants. Undergraduate and graduate international students studying at one Canadian university participated in an online survey. Methods. The survey consisting of four assessments—the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, the Carver Brief-Cope Inventory, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support—was distributed during the winter and spring terms of 2020. Results. Of the 338 participants from 53 countries, 76% demonstrated optimal mental health without mental disorders; 86% used approach coping strategies. Those who are women, married, and Ph.D. students showed better mental health and lower psychological distress. Coping skills and social support significantly predict participants’ psychological distress and subjective well-being. Conclusions. This study findings address the gaps in meeting the mental health needs of international students and raise awareness of this population's unique mental health status.

Background: Immersive virtual reality (VR) with head-mounted display was used to determine if clinical interview simulation could reduce the anxiety levels of first-year occupational therapy (OT) students as they prepared for upcoming Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). Anxiety among health science students is a potential problem that may diminish their performance during OSCEs. This investigation aimed to fill the gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of VR to reduce anxiety in OT students. Objective: This investigation aimed to uncover the effectiveness of immersive VR in reducing state anxiety in OT students who were preparing for OSCEs. Methods: A prospective, experimental, nonrandomized controlled trial compared levels of state anxiety, test anxiety, and academic self-efficacy in two groups of first-year OT students; these levels were measured at four different time points by self-reported psychometric scales, analyzed with a mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). Members of Phase 1 (NoVR) were not exposed to the VR simulation and acted as a control group for members of Phase 2 (YesVR), who were exposed to the VR simulation. VR simulation featured a virtual clinic and a standardized patient who students could interview in natural language. Measures of student study strategies and previous experience with VR were also recorded. Results: A total of 49 participants—29 in the NoVR group and 20 in the YesVR group—showed that state anxiety had a rise-then-fall trend, peaking at the time point just before the OSCE. At that point, the YesVR students showed significantly less state anxiety than did the NoVR students (t46.19=2.34, P=.02, Cohen d=0.65, ηp2=0.105). The mean difference was 6.78 units (95% CI 0.96-12.61). In similar trends for both groups, student test anxiety remained relatively static across the time points, while academic self-efficacy continually increased. A moderate positive correlation was found for total time spent studying and peak state anxiety (NoVR r=.46, n=28, P=.01; YesVR r=.52, n=19, P=.02). Conclusions: This investigation shows evidence of immersive VR’s capability to reduce state anxiety in OT students preparing for clinical practical exams. Immersive VR simulation, used for the reduction of anxiety in health science students, can potentially lead to a future of positive mental health change from the virtual to the real world.