Staff profile

Fareeda Almutairi began her PhD in 2025 under the supervision of Professor Alexandra Cristea in the Department of Computer Science at Durham University. She is also an active member of the SCENE Lab Group.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from King Saud University and a Master of Science in Computer Science from California State University, Fullerton.

Her current research focuses on gamification in immersive virtual reality (IVR) for computer science education, assessing its impact across four dimensions: performance (accuracy, errors, completion time), motivation, immersion/presence, and cognitive load.

Conference Paper

• Digital Twins for Collaborative Virtual Reality STEAM Education
  
  Almutairi, F., Kayama, M., Pan, Z., Alghamdi, N., Nagai, T., Stewart, C., & Cristea, A. I. (in press). Digital Twins for Collaborative Virtual Reality STEAM Education. Presented at ICVR 2026: The 12th International Conference on Virtual Reality, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
• Comparing Linear and Personalised Gamification in VR-Based Learning: Effects on Motivation, Immersion, Cognitive Load, and Performance
  
  Almutairi, F., & Cristea, A. (2025). Comparing Linear and Personalised Gamification in VR-Based Learning: Effects on Motivation, Immersion, Cognitive Load, and Performance. CEUR Workshop Proceedings.