of the intention to continue using virtual learning systems and to individual performance. Wu and Chen (2017) affirmed that the application of the TAM and the TTF model not only provided more accurate results than each model separately, but also enhanced their understanding of how TTF relates to MOOCs.
2.8 Integration between Hybrid Leaning Environment, Gamification, Virtual Reality, TAM and TTF
As mentioned before, by analyzing what factors influence students' intentions to use gamification and virtual reality in the hybrid learning process, this study aims to guide the development of hybrid learning environments that applies these technologies to better meet the needs and expectations of students increasing its chances of being used. Therefore, the research scope did not include the development and testing of a specific process, but the understanding of what technology characteristics should be taken into account when designing a hybrid learning process that integrates traditional classroom learning with gamification and virtual reality. Based on the research scope and previous researches founded in the literature, we developed an integrated model of Hybrid Leaning Environment, Gamification, Virtual Reality, TAM and TTF (Figure 9).
The model developed for this study was adapted from: (i) the validation model of gamification characteristics proposed by Brito et al. (2018) (Figure 3), (ii) the validation model of virtual reality characteristics proposed by the author (Figure 5), (iii) the TAM proposed by Davis et al. (1989) (Figure 6), and (iv) the TTF model proposed by Goodhue (1998) and Goodhue &
Thompson (1995) (Figure 7). The similarities and differences between the model shown in Figure 9 and the models used as the basis of its development will be further detailed.
The intention to use represented in the model below has the same mining of the behavioral intention to use (BI) in the Davis’s et al. (1989) model which is, according to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975 apud Davis et al., 1989, p. 984), “a measure of the strength of one's intention to perform a specified behavior”. However, in the model proposed by this research, the intention to use is determined by the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use instead of the attitude toward using. So, in the model below, the intention to use represented in TAM aims to analyze the relationship between student's intentions to use hybrid learning process and their positive
perception of six specific gamification characteristics, six specific virtual reality characteristics, and the fit between these technologies and their learning.
This adaptation in the Davis’s et al. (1989) model was necessary since the research’s scope did not include technology development and test. Although the survey responders have access to videos showing a technical training using gamification and virtual reality in their own company and in other companies, based on their own experiences and on their perceptions about the videos, they were able to answer the questions about perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and intention to use, but were not capable to answer the questions about attitude toward using. It is necessary test the technologies to analyze how they influence improvement - mechanism by which usefulness influences attitude toward using (Davis et al., 1989) - and self-efficacy and instrumentality - mechanisms by which perceived ease of use influences attitude toward using (Davis et al., 1989).
Due to the variable nature of the task and the individuals analyzed in this study, the task characteristics and the individual characteristics presented in the TTF model proposed by Goodhue (1998) and Goodhue & Thompson (1995) were also not included in the model below. The task analyzed was the learning, which is composed by subtasks which, in turn, varies according to teacher, institution, subject, students, objectives and other factors. The individuals analyzed were involved in a context of technical learning. Besides the personal characteristics differences, their behaviors and perceptions can vary according to the training they are involved in. Therefore, due to the impossibility to determine a pattern of task and individual characteristics to be analyzed, the study focused on analyze the technology characteristics and understood that to respond the questions about the learning-technology fit, the person would consider their personal characteristics, as well as their learning style and goals.
According to the model presented below, to analyze the main factors and their influence on the students' intention to use gamification and virtual reality in the hybrid learning process, two things should be considered. First, the main factors, which are: technology characteristics (six of gamification and six of virtual reality), and learning-technology fit. Secondly, their influence on the students' intention to use which are related to their positive perception of usefulness and ease of use. To develop this analyze, the methodology described in the following section was applied.
Figure 9 - Model integrating Hybrid Leaning Environment, Gamification, Virtual Reality, TAM and TTF
Source: Elaborated by the author
3 METHODOLOGY
The research presented in this study is classified as applied research based on a definition by Kothari (2004), since it aims to find a solution for a problem facing society and business organizations. Analyzing the students’ intention to use technology in their learning process, the study intends to help students, teachers, institutions, society, and government to better deal with the intense process of change that the educational system around the world has been continuously going through.
This study presents an exploratory research to examine a new area and formulate precise questions that can be addressed in future research. To do so, it follows the exploratory research purposes exposed by Neuman (2014):
Become familiar with the basic facts, setting, and concerns; Create a general mental picture of conditions;
Formulate and focus questions for future research; Generate new ideas, conjectures, or hypotheses; Determine the feasibility of conducting research; Develop techniques for measuring and locating future data. (p. 38)
We used the deductive reasoning method to develop the knowledge desired by the study.
According to Hyde (2000, p. 83) the “deductive reasoning is a theory testing process which commences with an established theory or generalization and seeks to see if the theory applies to specific instances”. At the beginning of this study, it was assumed that most students are willing to use technology to improve their learning process since technological integration is inevitable and, as shown by other studies, brings more benefits than harms.
To develop and test the theory assumed, a postpositivist approach was used to analyze students’ intention to use gamification and virtual reality in their process of technical learning.
Problems studied through postpositivist lens aims to identify and assess the causes that influence outcomes based on careful observation and measurement of the objective reality (Creswell &
Creswell, 2017). The authors also explained that the postpositivist approach intends to develop numerical measures of observations and to study the behavior of individuals. According to Creswell and Creswell (2017) and Neuman (2014), this approach is more used for quantitative research than qualitative research.
This study uses a quantitative approach for testing its theories by examining the relationship among variables. In this kind of research, variables can be measured with the aid of instruments to generate numbered data that can be analyzed using statistical procedures (Creswell & Creswell,
2017). Quantitative researches follow a linear research path based on precisely measuring variables and testing hypotheses to develop general causal explanations (Neuman, 2014). According to Creswell and Creswell (2017, p. 51), “those who engage in this form of inquiry have assumptions about testing theories deductively, building in protections against bias, controlling for researchers alternative or counterfactual explanations, and being able to generalize and replicate the findings”.
To the data analysis, we chose a nonexperimental form of research and defined statistical analysis as the research method. Among the types of nonexperimental research, the inquirer selected a correlational design and survey to guide the procedures in this research study.
In the correlational design, we used correlational statistics to describe and measure the relationship between two or more variables. As explained by Creswell and Creswell (2017), correlational designs apply more complex relationships among variables through techniques such as structural equation modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, logistic regression, factorial designs, and repeated measure designs.
The survey research was selected for this study because it provides a quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population (Creswell & Creswell, 2017, p. 61). Thus, the research will be able to identify what factors influence students' intentions to use gamification and virtual reality in their learning process by analyzing a sample of students involved in technical training that uses both technologies in its learning process. According to Fowler (2008 apud Creswell & Creswell, 2017, p. 61), the process by which survey researches allow generalizations from a sample to a population “includes cross- sectional and longitudinal studies using questionnaires or structured interviews for data collection”.
This study applied the questionnaire presented in Appendix 1, which was developed based on the background presented.
Table 3 - Methodology Summary Nature of research Applied Research Research objective Exploratory
Research Method Deductive Reasoning Research Paradigm Postpositivist Research approach Quantitative Research procedures
Nonexperimental
Correlational design
Survey
Source: Elaborated by the author