Designing a situational 3D virtual learning environment to bridge business theory and practice: The role of scaffolding

The objective of the study is to explore the effect of scaffolding strategy in enhancing students' application ability in a 3D virtual learning environment. In order to provide students with a "hands-on" experience, we utilized virtual reality technology to build a 3D virtual supermarket (3DVS) to guide students to apply class theory to the practice. There is a female virtual customer poses questions during her shopping in the 3DVS, the participants have to be a clerk to answer the questions. The questions posed by the virtual customer are designed based on marketing mix theory (Kotler et al., 2006). We invited ten students to understand the system efficiency. The results of the interview indicated that the participants hold quite positive comments toward the system.