Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Medical Education
Date Submitted: May 26, 2023
Date Accepted: Aug 29, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Healthcare and social work students’ experiences with a virtual reality simulation learning activity: A qualitative focus group study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Virtual reality simulation can provide a safe and controlled environment for students to practice and master skills that are transferable to real-world situations without putting patients, clients, or themselves at risk of any harm. Virtual reality simulation using 360° videos represents a novel approach to simulation in healthcare and social work education, and this inspired our interest in exploring students’ experiences with such a learning activity.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to explore occupational therapy, social education, nursing and social work students’ experiences with a virtual reality simulation as learning activity in an interdisciplinary subject.
Methods:
The study followed a qualitative design that used thematic analysis, as described by Braun and Clarke. The data were collected through six semi-structured focus-group interviews with 28 students.
Results:
The analysis revealed three overall themes for students’ experiences of the virtual reality simulation. The first theme, 360° videos provide observations for individual learning, illustrates how learning can take place through the students’ experiences of sensory inputs from the 360° videos. The second theme, 360° videos activate emotional learning, demonstrates how the students experienced emotional engagement when watching the 360° videos. The last theme, Debrief sessions enhance comprehensive learning, pinpoints how the students experienced learning through discussions after watching the 360° videos.
Conclusions:
Virtual reality simulation represents a promising learning activity for enhancing the professional learning of healthcare and social work students.
Citation
