Virtual Reality
Conditions
Brief summary
The objective of this study is to assess the effects of virtual reality instructional design on physical therapy students' clinical decision-making skills, as compared with a traditional method of instruction with the same content and duration of exposure.
Detailed description
An online random number generator will be used to randomize students into one of two groups: virtual reality instruction or role-paying instruction. All students will complete self-reported measures of clinical decision-making and metacognitive awareness prior to receiving their allocated instruction. While completing allocated instruction (either virtual reality or role-playing), measures of diagnostic accuracy and diagnostic efficiency will be collected. Following virtual reality or role-playing instruction, all included subjects will complete post-test measures of clinical decision-making ,metacognitive awareness, and engagement. One week later, all included subjects will be assessed on a musculoskeletal objective structured clinical examination (mOSCE).
Interventions
OTHERVirtual reality instructional design
60 minute immersive VR experience with branching method information delivery, physical therapy assessment, and diagnosis.
OTHERRole-playing instructional design
60 minute traditional role-playing with standardized patient
Sponsors
Shenandoah University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
22 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Students enrolled in their first year of physical therapy school at SU
Exclusion criteria
* Students enrolled in their second or third year of physical therapy school at SU
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in clinical decision-making | pre- and post-instructional design (immediately after completing virtual reality or role-playing) | The Clinical Decision-Making Tool (CDM-Tool), a Likert-style questionnaire with 12 items, scored on a four-point scale. A higher raw score indicates a higher level of perceived decision-making ability. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in metacognitive awareness | pre and post-instructional design (immediately after completing virtual reality or role-playing) | Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), a Likert-style questionnaire with 52-items, scored on a five-point scale. A higher raw score indicates a higher level of perceived metacognitive awareness. |
| Self-reported measure of engagement | Post-instruction (immediately after completing either virtual reality or role-playing experience) | Six-item, five-point Likert-style instrument. A higher raw score indicates greater level of student engagement. |
| Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) | 1 week following allocated instruction (either virtual reality or role-playing) | Practical examination with 2 cases, assessing a student's ability to generate hypotheses, perform tests or measures to rule-in or rule-out hypotheses, and deliver an appropriate intervention. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed