A Study Comparing the Pedagogical Effectiveness of Virtual Worlds and of Classical Methods

Abstract

This experiment tests whether a virtual world is a more suitable alternative to classical paper and pen case studies for teaching people how to disarm improvised explosive devices (IED). Following preliminary training, the subjects are separated into a group of 32 and one of 33. The odd-numbered subjects receive case studies while the even-numbered subjects receive training in the virtual world, Second Life. After their training, each subject is put into a simulated test where they attempt to properly disarm a mock IED attached to a victim played by an actor/actress. The results of the experiment show no significant difference between the two instruction types in terms of the subjects ability to perform the correct procedures in a situation with an IED. However, a higher percentage of subjects taking the Second Life training properly disarmed the IED than that of those taking the case studies.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2014
Accession Number
AD1000191

Entities

People

  • Benjamin Peters

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Case Studies
  • Commerce
  • Computational Science
  • Computers
  • Data Analysis
  • Distance Learning
  • Explosive Devices
  • Explosives
  • Health Services
  • Information Science
  • Medical Personnel
  • Regression Analysis
  • Students
  • Surveys
  • Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Video Games
  • Virtual Reality

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Military Training and Readiness Simulation
  • Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Medicine.