Using virtual reality to teach climate change in social studies: a case study in teacher education


Özcan E., Haşlaman T., Nur Yılmaz G.

HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS, cilt.2026, ss.1, 2026 (AHCI, SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 2026
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1057/s41599-026-06835-7
  • Dergi Adı: HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Index Islamicus, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1
  • TED Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study explores how pre-service teachers integrate immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies to teach climate change within social studies education. Using a qualitative case study design, 24 pre-service teachers participated in a five-week instructional programme focused on experiential and enquiry-based learning. Participants designed VR-integrated lesson plans and reflected on their pedagogical experiences through structured narratives. Thematic analysis of reflection papers revealed that immersive VR supported pre-service teachers’ experiential and emotional engagement with climate change and informed their civic- and ethics-oriented instructional design. Findings also highlight challenges related to technical limitations and instructional feasibility. The study contributes to the field by demonstrating how immersive technologies can support interdisciplinary instructional planning and climate-related pedagogical reasoning within citizenship education. Implications for teacher education and curriculum integration are discussed.