The integration of virtual reality (VR) into education is hotly discussed, often surrounding its capabilities as a training tool for both technical and soft skills. While VR’s impact on skills development is relatively well-established, an aspect of introducing it to the classroom is often overlooked: allowing students to discover the “why” and the “how” for themselves.
Led by Dr Matthew Coxon, Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology, this is the unique approach York St John University have been taking: bringing VR into the classroom as a research topic and discussion point for psychology students. As part of a first year module , students from last year’s cohort were tasked with defining a specific sector, identifying a problem within it, and then conducting a literature review to find two scientific studies. Using VR for soft skills training was one of the options, and the depth and breadth of their work demonstrate the immense potential of VR-focused academic exploration.
In this blog we’ll explore some of the case studies developed by these talented students, exploring the vast scope of impact that VR training can have, and how they identified existing solutions or highlighted areas for innovation.
Megan’s desk research addressed a critical issue: the gap in training for healthcare professionals in managing the rise of difficult patient interactions, impacted by the increasing pressure on the NHS.
Through her literature review, Megan identified how VR can enhance the acquisition of soft skills in comparison to video-based training (Akdere, M., Jiang, Y., & Acheson, K., 2021) and how virtual environment platforms can influence user’s emotional responses (Kim et al., 2014).
Her solution thus highlighted VR’s potential for effective de-escalation training for healthcare professionals.
Along a similar vein, Esther identified a pressing need for improved first-hand training among NHS pharmacy staff in handling customer complaints effectively. She pinpointed a lack of staff confidence in de-escalating situations with emotional customers.
Citing Fujita, S., Wang, D., Okawara, K., & Hoshino, J. (2019)., which investigated the development of a VR system for complaint handling training, and Rude, T. A., Eukel, H. N., Ahmed-Sarwar, N., Burke, E. S., Anderson, A. N., Riskin, J., & Caldas, L. M. (2023), which demonstrated the utility of VR for creating realistic pharmacy environments for skill development, Esther illustrated how VR could provide realistic, impactful training scenarios for de-escalation within pharmacy settings.
Lucie tackled the significant challenge of public speaking anxiety in new and student teachers. Often stemming from inexperience, this anxiety can have a significant impact on their ability to effectively teach their students.
Lucie’s two key pieces of research from her literature review highlighted the feasibility of virtual reality exposure therapy to treat public speaking anxiety in adolescents (Kahlon, S., Lindner, P. & Nordgreen, T. 2019) and adults alike (Premkumar, P., Heym, N., Brown, DJ., Battersby, S., Sumich, A., Huntington, B., Daly, R. & Zysk, E. 2021).
It’s clear that VR offers a safe and controlled environment to practice and build confidence in skills like public speaking. And this could be particularly effective in teacher training.
Also turning to teacher training, Kelsey identified another critical area for improvement for new and student teachers: managing difficult or disruptive behaviours in the classroom. Effective classroom management is fundamental to a productive learning environment, however it can be difficult for inexperienced teachers to develop the skills necessary to achieve good classroom management.
In her literature review, Kelsey identified a pilot study which demonstrated the use of VR to train preservice teachers in managing challenging behaviours (Chen, C.Y., 2022) and research which compared VR and video for fostering interest and self-efficacy in classroom management for student teachers (Huang, Y., Richter, E., Kleickmann, T., Richter, D. 2022).
Clearly, there is great opportunity for VR to offer a safe space for teachers to practice different strategies.
Following quite well from the two case studies above, Gabriella’s project investigated the management of aggressive and violent behaviours exhibited by primary school children, which can pose risks to both children and teachers.
Gabriella’s supporting studies examined the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy with virtual reality for treating aggressive behavior problems in children (Alsem, S. C., van Dijk, A., Verhulp, E. E., Dekkers, T. J., & De Castro, B. O. 2023) and conducted a pilot study on the use of VR for assessing aggressive social information processing in boys with behavioral problems (Verhoef, R. E. J., van Dijk, A., Verhulp, E. E., & de Castro, B. O. 2021).
From this literature review, Gabriella extracted the potential that VR provides to train educators and caregivers in sensitive and effective intervention techniques.
The breadth of possibilities for VR training
Amongst the discussed case studies above, there were many other suggested topics and solutions from students that we simply didn’t have the space to discuss in this blog, but we wanted to give mention of. Students also explored applications including police training (Cagla), construction safety (Bayley), anti-discrimination training (Francis), and medical training (George), further illustrating the versatility of VR in addressing real-world problems.
The summaries above barely scratched the surface of the analyses these students completed, but they still indicate a powerful two-fold conclusion. Firstly, it’s clear that there is a large breadth of possibilities for VR training across sectors – for both soft and technical skills.
Secondly, it indicates the success of VR-focused desk research projects as an academic project. By assigning their students to explore, identify, and propose VR solutions, York St John are preparing them to think critically about how we learn, train, and solve challenges in the digital era.
Have you thought about assigning a VR research project? We’d love to hear about the process and impact of your programme!