Integrating the STEAM-6E Model with Virtual Reality Instruction: The Contribution to Motivation, Effectiveness, Satisfaction, and Creativity of Learners with Diverse Cognitive Styles

In today’s digital age, where smartphones are ubiquitous among the younger generation, they can add to the cognitive load on the brain, even when not in use. This can affect students’ learning outcomes and creativity, leading to negative emotions or creativity blocks during the learning process. Thus, this study investigates the relationship between differences in students’ cognitive styles and their learning motivation, learning outcomes, creativity, and learning satisfaction. The primary objective is to use the STEAM-6E instructional model in virtual reality (VR) courses to understand how students with different cognitive styles can be stimulated to unleash their diverse and vibrant creativity based on their learning preferences during hands-on experiences. The study also aims to explore whether there are disparities in their learning motivation and learning outcomes, and whether there are differences in their overall learning satisfaction. The findings of the study indicate that for the two cognitive styles of holistic and sequential, the subjects showed significant differences in their learning motivation regarding intrinsic goals, extrinsic goals, task value, control beliefs, self-efficacy, and test anxiety. Significant differences were also observed in their learning preferences, learning outcomes, and creative performance. However, the two groups had no significant differences in the effectiveness, efficiency, and overall satisfaction of the learning activities.