Physical and social presence in 3D virtual role-play for pre-service teachers

Numerous studies have explored the affordances of 3D virtual worlds. Although previous studies indicated that virtual worlds would be helpful for experiential and collaborative learning through enhancing physical and social presence, few studies have investigated what determines physical and social presence and what are their roles in learning and teaching in virtual worlds. The current study investigates the influences of individual differences such as age, gender, and epistemological beliefs on physical and social presence. This study also investigates the influences of physical and social presence on situational interest and perceived achievement in virtual role-play. The role-play activity allowed pre-service teachers (n = 151) to teach their peers in realistic classroom contexts within Second Life and to reflect on their language use as teachers. This study found that pre-service teachers' age and epistemological beliefs significantly influenced their physical and social presence in the virtual world. This finding implies that physical and social presence are influenced not only by the representational fidelity of virtual worlds but also by individual differences. In addition, physical and social presence positively influenced situational interest and perceived achievement. More attention should be paid to the roles of physical and social presence in teaching and learning in virtual worlds.