Innovation can include creativity, innovation mechanisms, and entrepreneurship. The ability to innovate is an important indicator of economic and social development, and creativity is an educational indicator of learning effectiveness. This article explores creativity and innovation from an educational perspective and proposes a sustainability-oriented creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship education framework that uses creative problem solving. This framework contains four layers and three dimensions. The first layer concerns the thinker and basic structure, and the second layer contains the catalyst of sustainable development goals (SDGs). The third layer is the advanced structure of cultivating SDG thinkers. The final layer is the generation of students who will attempt to start up social enterprises. The three aspects apply the creative nature of diffuse thinking to social innovation; apply demand expansion to extend individual needs to societal needs; and apply educational goal development to encourage sustainability. We expect this framework, which can turn thinkers into doers through creativity and social innovation, to apply to different disciplines. This article provides suggestions for (1) designing curriculum in creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship education (CIE) for different education level and (2) transitioning technical and vocational education in developing economies on the road to sustainable development.

Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies—collectively known as Extended Reality (XR)—have ushered in a new era of immersive and interactive instruction in applied sciences education. This systematic literature review aims to examine the application of XR technologies across various scientific and educational domains, evaluate their impact on learning outcomes, and identify the challenges hindering their broader integration. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a literature search was conducted using Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and IEEE Xplore, focusing on empirical studies published between 1 January 2010 and 1 November 2024, resulting in the inclusion of 56 studies. Among these, 32 studies (53%) employed VR, 25 studies (42%) utilized AR, and 3 studies (5%) adopted MR, with 4 studies exploring the combined application of VR and AR. The findings indicate that VR is primarily applied in higher education settings, such as universities and graduate programs, whereas AR is more prevalent in primary and secondary education; although MR is less frequently used, it exhibits distinct advantages in disciplines requiring high interactivity and realism. Overall, each XR modality can enhance learning motivation, efficiency, and immediate knowledge acquisition in short-term interventions, while long-term implementation may contribute to improved memory retention, increased learner confidence, and sustained engagement. Despite persistent challenges—including high equipment costs, spatial and temporal constraints, small sample sizes, and insufficient longitudinal evidence—these findings underscore the transformative potential of XR technologies in applied sciences education.

In the light of the challenges due to COVID-19, this study proposes an innovative teaching model to integrate STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and virtual reality (VR) into Maker education. Experimental research was conducted with three groups (two experimental groups and a control group) to explore (a) the impact of the introduction of STEM in Maker knowledge learning effectiveness, Maker self-efficacy, and Maker works; (b) the effect of introducing VR on the recognition of Makerspace; and (c) the effect of Maker courses on the development of Maker skills. The results show that the proposed Maker course improves students’ Maker self-efficacy, and that STEM-based instruction has a significant impact on learning effectiveness. However, according to the profile evaluations, the STEM-oriented group’s Maker works were more complicated and systematic than that of experiment group 1. Moreover, the VR groups (groups 1 and 2) were more familiar with Makerspace than was the PPT group (the control group). Therefore, the findings indicate that when Makerspace is introduced, VR content is a more effective teaching method than PowerPoint slides. Second, the Maker curriculum improves students’ Maker self-efficacy. Specifically, STEM-oriented instruction improves students’ Maker knowledge, complexity, and completion of Maker works.