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Virtual Reality and the Re-Engagement of Disengaged Learners: Empirical Evidence from At-Risk Junior Secondary School Students in A Conflict-Affected Educational Environment in Northern Nigeria

Sani, Sanusi Danmali, Falade, Ayotunde Atanda PhD

Abstract

Student disengagement in conflict-affected and resource-constrained educational environments represents one of the most consequential yet least examined challenges in contemporary educational technology research. This study investigated the effect of Extended Reality (XR)-based instruction on the learning engagement of at-risk Junior Secondary School students in Basic Science, Basic Technology, and Mathematics in Sokoto State, Nigeria an insecurity-affected context in which displacement, overcrowding, and inadequate instruction have systematically suppressed learner participation and motivation. A quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test control group design was adopted with 128 at-risk JSS III students selected through multistage sampling (64 experimental; 64 control). The experimental group received XR-based instruction through the Brick-to-Clicks STEM-XR Learning Experience Platform over twelve weeks; the control group received conventional instruction on identical curriculum content. Learning engagement was measured using the validated STM Learning Engagement Scale (STM-LES; α = .89), assessing behavioural, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. Analysis of Covariance was used to test the main engagement effect, and two-way ANCOVA examined gender as a moderating variable, both controlling for pre-test engagement scores. The findings revealed a statistically significant and exceptionally large effect of XR-based instruction on learning engagement, F(1, 125) = 154.13, p < .001, ηp2 = .552 substantially exceeding Cohen's (1988) large effect threshold. Critically, the pre-test engagement covariate was non-significant (p = .713), establishing that the engagement gains were generated by the intervention rather than pre-existing learner differences. Gender did not significantly moderate the engagement effect, F(1, 123) = 2.39, p = .125, ηp2 = .019. The study concludes that XR-based instruction functions not merely as an engagement enhancement for already-motivated learners but as a structural re-engagement mechanism capable of activating participation among learners whose motivation has been suppressed by environmental insecurity and disrupted schooling. Implications for educational emergency response policy and XR instructional design are discussed.

Keywords

Virtual RealityExtended Realitystudent engagementat-risk learnersdisengagementconflict-affected educationSTEMSokoto StateNigeriare-engagement

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