Evaluation Methods Applied to Virtual Reality Educational Applications: A Systematic Review.

Evaluation is an important activity in software development since it allows detecting issues like design flaws under different analysis perspectives. However, conducting a satisfactory assessment is challenging, especially considering new interactive technologies such as virtual reality (VR). This paper presents a systematic review revealing the most used evaluation methods in this context to deepen the understanding of the evaluation of educational applications employing VR. Considering a search in the ACM database with a filter for the last six years, we selected 1351 initial studies and 81 for analysis. The results show that the tests of usability, flow, and technology acceptance model are the most common, as well as the methods used in many articles present weaknesses due to the lack of an adequate theoretical foundation. Accordingly, we strengthen the relevance of using well-defined support theories in all stages of an evaluation.