Virtual Reality for Public Speaking Rehearsals: Student and Faculty Perceptions

Author

Carrie A. SaltsmanFollow

Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

5-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Communication

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Nick Tatum

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Joe Cardot

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Lauren Lemley

Abstract

Speeches and speech rehearsals are an important part of many basic communication courses. However, instructors are developing new ways for students to rehearse their speeches every day; one way may be for students to use virtual reality. Although virtual reality is somewhat of a new innovation, it is effective in various settings, including higher education, and more specifically, the speech classroom. However, this efficacy may not matter if students and instructors are unwilling to adopt it into the classroom. Diffusion of innovation theory, developed by Rogers (2003), focuses on how an innovation is diffused and adopted. Using two of the five attributes of an innovation (i.e., relative advantage and complexity), this thesis examines student and instructor perceptions of virtual reality. Results from the study showed that students and instructors perceived that complexity (i.e., ease of use) was significantly related to attitudes towards VR adoption. Results also showed that relative advantage was significantly related to VR adoption attitudes for students and instructors. Lastly, students and instructors had significantly different perceptions of ease of use but did not have significantly different perceptions of relative advantage.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Saltsman, Carrie A., "Virtual Reality for Public Speaking Rehearsals: Student and Faculty Perceptions" (2021). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 339.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/339