Smart learning environments provide students with opportunities to engage in self-regulated learning (SRL). However, little research has examined how teachers leverage these opportunities. We employed a multiple-case study methodology to examine the SRL supporting instructional practices of five third-grade teachers as they implemented a science unit embedded within a smart learning environment which enabled student engagement in SRL processes. The identified set of instructional practices was used to formulate the teachers’ SRL support profiles, which indicates the extent to which teachers provided students with opportunities to regulate the cognitive aspect of SRL. Our findings indicated that teachers’ interactions with the smart learning environment varied from teacher-focused use, restricting opportunities for SRL engagement, to student-focused use, leveraging opportunities for student engagement in SRL. These results demonstrate that, while smart learning environments potentially provide rich contexts for students’ engagement in SRL, how teachers use this environment through their SRL-supporting instructional practices determines students’ actual engagement in SRL.

Background: This study investigates the effect of immersion levels in virtual reality (VR) learning environments on the acquisition of declarative and procedural knowledge. Prior research indicates that immersion affects cognitive load, but its impact on declarative and procedural knowledge outcomes remains unclear. This study utilises a multimodal approach, combining self‐reports with data from psychophysiological sensors.Objectives: The study aims to evaluate how different levels of immersion in VR—high‐immersive VR (head‐mounted display, HMD‐VR) and low‐immersive VR (Desktop‐VR)—affect cognitive load and learning outcomes, focusing on procedural and declarative knowledge.Methods: A prospective experimental study was conducted with 74 sophomore nursing students, assigned to either the HMD‐VR group or Desktop‐VR. Eye‐tracking and electrodermal activity (EDA) were used to assess cognitive load during learning. A pre‐test/post‐test design measured declarative and procedural knowledge using a Medication Administration Test (MAT), whilst a presence questionnaire evaluated user experience.Results and Conclusions: Both study groups demonstrated significant improvements in declarative and procedural knowledge. However, the low‐immersive Desktop‐VR group exhibited significantly greater pre‐ to post‐test gains in procedural knowledge compared to the high‐immersive HMD‐VR group. The HMD‐VR group exhibited higher cognitive load during procedural tasks, indicated by lower blink rates and a higher rate of EDA peaks. No significant differences were found in the sense of presence between the two groups. This study contributes to understanding learning with immersive VR, showing that high‐immersive VR may require careful instructional design to mitigate cognitive overload, especially for procedural tasks. Low‐immersive VR presents a cost‐effective alternative for immediate knowledge gains.

Computer-based simulations are highly effective in supporting students’ deep conceptual understanding of scientific ideas. However, in the unprecedented era of the COVID-19 outbreak, students around the world experienced an induced state anxiety, which may have affected their engagement with the learning environments and ultimately their academic outcomes. This crisis underscores the global need to examine the learning processes and identify means of supporting students’ engagement under stressful conditions. With this goal in mind, the current study evaluated the impact of COVID-19 induced anxiety on the learning process of 187 undergraduate students by means of computer-based simulation during a quarantine. Findings show that 56% of the students reported experiencing anxiety following the COVID-19 outbreak. A bivariate parametric analysis demonstrated that this COVID-19 induced anxiety had a negative impact on students’ engagement. Indirect model analysis revealed that emotional disaffection in terms of boredom mediated the negative effect of COVID-19 induced anxiety on students’ engagement. From a theoretical perspective, these findings highlight the pivotal role of boredom in students’ learning processes in times of externally induced anxiety. From a pedagogical perspective, our findings highlight the necessity to implement teaching approaches that attend to boredom to mitigate the negative effects of externally induced anxiety.