Evaluating bubbles: an evaluation of a new immersive indirect E-Contact learning platform

This thesis is an evaluation of a new online learning platform that aims to reduce prejudice. The research consists of two studies: firstly, a quantitative study with school pupils (Study 1a, N = 121) and young adults (Study 1b, N = 145) as participants and secondly, a qualitative study (Study 2, N = 79) involving school pupils, young adults and teachers. The quantitative studies explore the impact of the intervention on empathy, knowledge and social attitudes utilising t-tests, regression, mediation and moderated mediation analyses. The qualitative study utilises reflexive thematic analysis. This project was funded by the National Holocaust Centre and Museum UK (NHCM). A unique aspect of this study is the exploration of the impact of an immersive historical e-contact intervention. Statistical analyses of the quantitative study revealed that, in line with previous research, direct contact acted as a moderator on the effect of the intervention on social attitudes. The thematic analysis of the qualitative study underlines the mixed impact of the intervention and shows that although there is some promise, further development of this and similar interventions and evaluations of those interventions is necessary.