## 5 Empirical Validation and Practical Application  
The evaluation of the Meta-MILE classroom model utilized a rigorous paired pretest-posttest design to explore the immediate impact of a Metaverse-based learning experience on senior undergraduate students. Conducted with 28 participants from a computer design course at Binghamton University, the study examined changes in students' familiarity, comfort, motivation, and perceptions regarding the relevance of immersive technologies to industry applications. This specific group was selected because they represent a key demographic poised to enter technology-driven industries, making them ideal candidates to assess the practical relevance of the Metaverse in preparing students for real-world applications. This approach provided valuable insight into the educational potential of the Metaverse. Participants completed pre- and post-surveys designed to measure changes in their familiarity with the Metaverse, comfort using immersive technologies, motivation, and perceived relevance of the Metaverse to industry-specific tasks. Each survey consisted of 30 structured questions, including Likert scale items (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) and multiple choice questions. These questions were explicitly aligned with the study's research objectives. For example, students were asked, \"How familiar are you with the concept of the Metaverse?\" and \"How relevant is the Metaverse to preparing you for industry-specific tasks?\" The complete list of survey questions is available on request, ensuring transparency and allowing the readers to assess the alignment of the survey with the study objectives. The intervention involved a 20 min hands-on session in which students used university-provided VR headsets to interact with a simulated virtual design studio replicating real-world industry scenarios. This activity aimed to bridge theoretical learning with practical applications. The process was carefully structured: a pre-survey established baseline perceptions, followed by the Metaverse activity, and concluded with a post-survey administered immediately afterward to capture changes. To maintain consistency and ensure reliable comparisons, the timing of the surveys was kept uniform across participants. The implementation pathways, illustrated in Figure 3, provide a detailed roadmap to scale and replicate the Meta-MILE classroom model in other educational contexts. The study tested the null hypothesis (\(H_{0}\)), which posits no significant differences between the responses before and after the intervention in familiarity, comfort, motivation, or perceived relevance of Metaverse to industry-specific tasks helps to reinforce the credibility and validity of the findings. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were employed to evaluate this hypothesis. Descriptive statistics, including medians, interquartile ranges, and frequencies, summarized trends in student responses. The Wilcoxon signed rank test, a nonparametric method appropriate for ordinal data, assessed statistically significant changes between pre- and post-survey responses (\(p<0.05\)). To improve statistical reporting, effect sizes, such as rank-biserial correlation, were calculated to highlight the practical significance of the observed changes. Data visualizations, created using Microsoft Excel, SPSS Statistics 22, and Python, were further enhanced with Visio for clarity and precision. The intervention significantly improved students' comfort, confidence, and perceptions of the Metaverse's educational and industry relevance, with effect sizes ranging from small to large, indicating meaningful but varying practical impacts on their attitudes and expectations. These findings validated its alignment with the needs of the workforce. The variability in effect sizes highlighted the intervention's impact. Larger effects for hands-on familiarity and comfort were observed due to the immersive nature of the simulated virtual design studio, which aligned with experiential learning principles.