The effect of virtual reality experience of sports manager candidates on metaverse knowledge level

Aim: In the research, it was aimed to investigate the effect of the virtual reality experience of sports management students on the metaverse knowledge level. Material and Method: In the research, descriptive survey method, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. While the universe of the research consisted of 53 students studying in the 4th grade of Inonu University, Department of Sports Management, the sample consisted of 32 students using power analysis. Personal Information Form and Süleymanoğulları et al. The Metaverse scale developed by him was used. After the pre-tests, there is an experimental phase that gives the participants a virtual reality experience with metaverse glasses. As a post-test, the Metaverse scale was applied again to measure the metaverse knowledge level after the virtual reality experience. The "Metaverse Scale" scores obtained from the pre-test and post-tests applied to the participants were found by the "Related Samples t-Test" and "Bidirectional Analysis of Variance" tests. The statistics of the research were made with the SPSS 25 Package Program.. Results: There is a statistically significant difference between the Metaverse Knowledge Level pre-test and post-test mean scores. While the total score average of the Metaverse Scale was 45.78 in the pre-test, it reached this average of 59.00 in the post-test. In the gender variable, the mean of women is 3.89, while the mean of men is 4.18. While the average of those who do sports is 4.08, the average of those who do not do sports is calculated as 3.97. Technology Usage Times scores are F-value of 0.000 and p-value of 1.00. There was no significant difference in terms of Gender, Doing Sports and Technology use, and Metaverse Knowledge levels (p>0.05). Conclusion: As a result, there is a significant difference between the virtual reality experience and metaverse knowledge level of the sports manager candidates; There was no significant difference between gender, doing sports and using technology. Key Words: Metaverse, Virtual Reality, Sports, Technology