The investigation of the effects of a virtual reality application developed for fractions in the mathematics lessons of elementary school considering some different variables

The purpose of this study; is to develop an educational virtual reality application about fractions of fourth grade and to evaluate this application with the dimensions of academic achievement, student engagement and flow theory. In the research, educational virtual reality application which consists of four parts and including activities related to fractions subject has been developed and the application is named as "Keşfet Kurtul". Keşfet Kurtul has been designed in such a way that the fractions lasting a total of 4 weeks can be used every week, according to the opinions of the field experts. Mixed research method was used in the research. The quantitative data of the research were collected with the Academic Achievement Test developed by the researcher for fractions, Student Engagement in Mathematics Scale and Flow State Scale. Qualitative data of the study were obtained through semi-structured interview forms, observation reports and student notes. A total of 64 fourth grade students were included in the study. Interviews were conducted with 4 students selected by typical case sampling from the results obtained from the flow state scale and notes were filled out by these students. In addition, the researcher and 3 teachers participated as observers to the study. According to the results of the research it was found that the educational virtual reality application Keşfet Kurtul used in the experimental group, and the current method applied in the control group, had the same effect on the academic achievement of students. Similarly, when the students' engagement to mathematics was evaluated, it was concluded that the methods used in the experimental and control groups did not show a statistically significant difference. When the flow experience data obtained using the Flow State Scale were analyzed, it was found that the educational virtual reality application Keşfet Kurtul used in the experimental group was more effective than the current method used in the control group. This result is consistent with the findings obtained from the qualitative data of the study. According to the findings obtained from qualitative data, it has been concluded that in some parts of the educational virtual reality application Keşfet Kurtul can be arranged to provide a better flow experience.