Exploring the use of Online Simulations in Teaching Dialogue Skills

To aid in teaching dialogue skills a virtual simulator called Communicate! was developed at Utrecht University. Teachers can build scenarios for students to practice dialogues with a virtual character. In two experiments (n = 128 and 133, a year apart), we investigated if and how Communicate! can be an effective aid to study and practice dialogue skills, by comparing it to traditional “passive” learning tools, such as literature-study and a lecture, in an undergraduate psychology dialogue-skills course. Students were divided into four groups, two of which both read an article about conducting a bad-news dialogue and played a bad-news-dialogue-scenario (but in a different order), while the third group only played the scenario. The final group only read the article (expt. 1) or also attended a lecture on the topic (expt. 2). Playing a scenario improved performance on a different scenario played later. It increased the students’ reported engagement and motivation to learn about this topic, compared to reading the article, whereas their reported self-efficacy decreased, which may indicate a recognized learning need. It also increased the score on an MC-knowledge test on this type of dialogue. This suggests that online dialogue simulations aid studying (basic) dialogue skills, by providing flexible, authentic learning experiences

Enhancing Free-text Interactions in a Communication Skills Learning Environment

Learning environments frequently use gamification to enhance user interactions.Virtual characters with whom players engage in simulated conversations often employ prescripted dialogues; however, free user inputs enable deeper immersion and higher-order cognition. In our learning environment, experts developed a scripted scenario as a sequence of potential actions, and we explore possibilities for enhancing interactions by enabling users to type free inputs that are matched to the pre-scripted statements using Natural Language Processing techniques. In this paper, we introduce a clustering mechanism that provides recommendations for fine-tuning the pre-scripted answers in order to better match user inputs

Teaching Slaughter : Mapping Changes in Emotions in Veterinary Students during Training in Humane Slaughter

As part of their training, Dutch veterinary students learn how to carry out the humane slaughter of livestock, which many students consider emotionally challenging. The aims of this study were to plot changes in self-reported emotions in veterinary students at different time points during an educational program on humane slaughter using emotion cards and to assess the change in reported emotions after adding a video and a short period of self-reflection to the program. Emotions were mapped in five groups of students at the beginning, middle, and end of the program by asking them to select from 40 cards depicting emotions in photo and text. Then two changes were made to the course program: a video of an expert slaughterman stunning and bleeding a bovine was shown, and the students were requested to spend 2 minutes picturing themselves carrying out the same procedures. To evaluate the effect of these improvements to the course, the five groups of students were asked in the same way to indicate their emotions at the same three time points. Adding the video and short period of self-reflection did not change the emotions reported by students. Our results indicate that instruction in humane slaughter techniques involves a significant mental challenge for students. The use of emotion cards by teachers could provide useful insights into emotional aspects of the more challenging programs for students

Teaching Slaughter : Mapping Changes in Emotions in Veterinary Students during Training in Humane Slaughter

As part of their training, Dutch veterinary students learn how to carry out the humane slaughter of livestock, which many students consider emotionally challenging. The aims of this study were to plot changes in self-reported emotions in veterinary students at different time points during an educational program on humane slaughter using emotion cards and to assess the change in reported emotions after adding a video and a short period of self-reflection to the program. Emotions were mapped in five groups of students at the beginning, middle, and end of the program by asking them to select from 40 cards depicting emotions in photo and text. Then two changes were made to the course program: a video of an expert slaughterman stunning and bleeding a bovine was shown, and the students were requested to spend 2 minutes picturing themselves carrying out the same procedures. To evaluate the effect of these improvements to the course, the five groups of students were asked in the same way to indicate their emotions at the same three time points. Adding the video and short period of self-reflection did not change the emotions reported by students. Our results indicate that instruction in humane slaughter techniques involves a significant mental challenge for students. The use of emotion cards by teachers could provide useful insights into emotional aspects of the more challenging programs for students

Evaluating the effect of a virtual simulator on teaching communication skills

For many professions, the ability to communicate (vocally) is an essential skill. Training, for instance, professional-client communication is labour intensive however, as it often involves one-on-one interactions with a skilled trainer or actor. To improve teaching communication, a virtual simulator called Communicate! was developed by Utrecht University1. In Communicate!, a student plays a scenario and holds a consultation with a virtual character. Teachers can build scenarios and apply specific scenarios to be used as practice for students or even as assessment method. We wondered if the use of Communicate! can be an effective aid to study communication skills in several operationalisations of learning outcomes. For this abstract we focus on acquiring theoretical knowledge about communication techniques.We devised two experiments (n = 128 and 133, a year apart) where the use of Communicate! was compared to more traditional learning tools, such as literature study and a lecture, in an undergraduate psychology communication-skills course. In both experiments (optional for the students in the course) we used a randomised controlled trial approach. Students in the course were divided in four groups, two of which both read an article about giving bad news in a dialogue and played a bad-news-dialogue-scenario (but in different order), while the third group only played the scenario. In the first experiment the final group only read the article, in the second experiment the final group read the article and listened to a lecture on bad news dialogues. The outcome measure we present here was performance on a multiple-choice test (about the theoretical underpinnings of this type of dialogue) administered at the end of the session.In both experiments playing both the scenario and reading the article resulted in better performance on the multiple-choice test (on communication skills) than reading the article alone, an effect mimicked by replacing the scenario by the lecture. This is surprising, given that Communicate! was designed for practising skills, not acquiring theoretical knowledge.Our results show that educational interventions such as the one presented here can have unexpected effects on student learning, a phenomenon worth considering when evaluating the effects of such educational innovations

sj-docx-1-plj-10.1177_14757257221138936 - Supplemental material for Exploring the use of Online Simulations in Teaching Dialogue Skills

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-plj-10.1177_14757257221138936 for Exploring the use of Online Simulations in Teaching Dialogue Skills by Michiel H. Hulsbergen, Jutta de Jong and Maarten J. van der Smagt in Psychology Learning & Teaching</p

Exploring the use of Online Simulations in Teaching Dialogue Skills

To aid in teaching dialogue skills a virtual simulator called Communicate! was developed at Utrecht University. Teachers can build scenarios for students to practice dialogues with a virtual character. In two experiments (n = 128 and 133, a year apart), we investigated if and how Communicate! can be an effective aid to study and practice dialogue skills, by comparing it to traditional “passive” learning tools, such as literature-study and a lecture, in an undergraduate psychology dialogue-skills course. Students were divided into four groups, two of which both read an article about conducting a bad-news dialogue and played a bad-news-dialogue-scenario (but in a different order), while the third group only played the scenario. The final group only read the article (expt. 1) or also attended a lecture on the topic (expt. 2). Playing a scenario improved performance on a different scenario played later. It increased the students’ reported engagement and motivation to learn about this topic, compared to reading the article, whereas their reported self-efficacy decreased, which may indicate a recognized learning need. It also increased the score on an MC-knowledge test on this type of dialogue. This suggests that online dialogue simulations aid studying (basic) dialogue skills, by providing flexible, authentic learning experiences

Enhancing Free-text Interactions in a Communication Skills Learning Environment

Learning environments frequently use gamification to enhance user interactions.Virtual characters with whom players engage in simulated conversations often employ prescripted dialogues; however, free user inputs enable deeper immersion and higher-order cognition. In our learning environment, experts developed a scripted scenario as a sequence of potential actions, and we explore possibilities for enhancing interactions by enabling users to type free inputs that are matched to the pre-scripted statements using Natural Language Processing techniques. In this paper, we introduce a clustering mechanism that provides recommendations for fine-tuning the pre-scripted answers in order to better match user inputs