Citation

Wong, Yi Hong (2025) Factors affecting students engagement through Metaverse. Masters thesis, Multimedia University.

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Abstract

Immersive metaverse platforms are emerging as promising complements to conventional online learning, yet universities still lack empirical guidance on the factors that convert technological novelty into sustained student engagement. This thesis investigates the determinants of Malaysian university students’ intention to engage with a metaverse-based learning environment. Grounded in Student Engagement Theory and the Technology Engagement Model, it integrates cognitive (perceived learning), presencerelated (social presence, self-presence) and technology-acceptance constructs (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions) into a unified framework. A post-positivist, quantitative design was adopted. A cross-sectional questionnaire, adapted from validated scales and administered online, captured students’ perceptions across the seven constructs. After rigorous validity checks and control for common method bias through a marker-variable approach, multiple regression was used to test the hypothesised relationships. The analysis confirms that students’ engagement intentions in the metaverse depend less on the platform’s usability than on the ecosystem that surrounds it and the sense of immersion it affords. Facilitating conditions – reliable infrastructure, accessible devices and timely support – emerge as the most influential driver, followed by social presence, performance expectancy and self-presence. Effort expectancy shows no independent effect once these factors are accounted for. These findings refine engagement theory for three-dimensional, avatar-based contexts and underscore the need for institutions to move beyond technical roll-outs. The research, conducted with a diverse sample drawn from public and private universities, highlights that perceived learning, while conceptually intertwined with engagement, does not independently predict intention once overlapping variance is removed. The study offers a validated model that can guide educators, administrators and policymakers in allocating resources, designing collaborative virtual experiences and articulating learning benefits that resonate with students. By demonstrating where institutional investment and pedagogical design most productively converge, it provides an evidence base for effectively scaling metaverse initiatives that are inclusive, motivating and educationally meaningful.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Additional Information:	Call No.: TK5105.8864 .W66 2025
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Metaverse—Educational applications
Subjects:	T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering > TK5101-6720 Telecommunication. Including telegraphy, telephone, radio, radar, television
Divisions:	Faculty of Management (FOM)
Depositing User:	Ms Nurul Iqtiani Ahmad
Date Deposited:	22 Sep 2025 04:44
Last Modified:	22 Sep 2025 04:45
URII:	http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/id/eprint/14503

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