Title:
Teaching Experience as Moderator of Social Presence in Synchronous Classes Mediated by an Augmented Reality Virtual Classroom [Download]Authors:
Juan F. Florez Marulanda, César A. Collazos, Julio A. Hurtado, Christian Sturm
Index Terms:
Abstract:
Previous research has sought to identify factors and moderators that influence students’ perceived social presence of their instructors in face-to-face, remote, synchronous, and asynchronous (MOOC) classes, which affect engagement levels. However, few studies have examined instructors’ social presence in remote courses mediated by immersive augmented reality virtual classrooms and identified how instructor’s teaching experience affects this perception. This case study uses a sample of 198 students with 11 instructors and Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn tests to determine whether years of teaching experience moderates students’ perceived social presence of their instructors, associating it with both individual and methodological factors of instructors. The results show that “teaching experience” moderates students’ perceived social presence of their instructors during synchronous remote classes mediated by an immersive virtual classroom. This moderator, “teaching experience,” is influenced primarily by verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors exhibited by instructors during classes and, to a lesser extent, by instructional methodological factors, along with other unknown factors cultivated throughout their teaching experience.
DOI:
How to cite:
Juan F. Florez Marulanda, César A. Collazos, Julio A. Hurtado, Christian Sturm, "Teaching Experience as Moderator of Social Presence in Synchronous Classes Mediated by an Augmented Reality Virtual Classroom", IEEE-RITA, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 172-183, Jan. 2026. doi: 10.1109/RITA.2026.3670086