Immersive Virtual Reality in Vocational School: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Immersive virtual reality technology is widely used in the field of education with the continuous development of hardware and software.Facing the content of skill practice that is changing with the times, vocational education is also actively reforming its teaching methods and applying IVR to teaching.This paper presents a systematic review of the applications, advantages, and challenges of IVR in vocational education.The study is based on the PRISMA report and analyses journal papers retrieved from Web of Science and Scopus, spanning the period from 2021 to 2025.It highlights the pedagogical value of IVR in teaching and learning, describes the challenges of its implementation in vocational education, and makes recommendations for future research.Although IVR is gradually being integrated into classrooms in vocational education and has been shown to have a positive impact on factors such as student learning outcomes and motivation, challenges such as cognitive load, motion sickness, and instructional design difficulties should not be ignored.Future research should focus on exploring the effects of IVR across different disciplines and different ways to address the negative impacts of IVR.This paper identifies research gaps, broadens the scope of research, and points the way for researchers and software designers.