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 Teaching cases Training personal skills using virtual reality

Training personal skills using virtual reality

Short description

Students used the virtual reality application, Bodyswaps, to assist in learning team dynamics and to train personal skills. In the application, a student would go through scenarios, talk to virtual avatars and make decisions in relation to understanding and solving conflict. They would receive feedback on their behavior and then view a recording of their own behavior from the perspective of the receiver.

Motivation

  • The activity takes place in a 6-hour class about team dynamics, which is a relatively long day. The activity is a way of varying the teaching in a fun and engaging way by letting the students go through scenarios related to communication, conflict resolution, and more. 

  • It is a safe and repeatable environment for students to learn personal skills in a different way than they are used to. 

Academic objective

  • To assist learning of team dynamics in project management. 

  • The students being able to view their own actions from the perspective of the receiving person. 

  • To engage the students in the subject matter in a fun a motivating way. 

Execution

THE PROCESS

Individual

(2 hours)

  1. Each student was given a headset and shown how to start the application. 

  1. In VR, the students went through different scenarios:

    1. Explore and understand a conflict.

    2. Work with virtual characters to resolve conflicts by selecting actions and answering multiple choice questions.

    3. Sum up the problem and suggest solutions by talking to the virtual characters followed by getting feedback on actions.

    4. Repeat and see their own improvements.  

Photo: Lasse Lui Frandsen

RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS

SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS

One headset for each student. Make sure it is tested and charged. 

Before the activity, the students had received theoretical teaching on team dynamics in project management. 

Experiences

Outcome

  • The students enjoyed the activity, which they found interesting and fun. Some mentioned the feeling of being able to use some of the information they learned earlier the same day in a more practical setting. 

  • It also worked well as a “carrot on a stick”, since students knew that the last 1-2 hours were dedicated to VR, thus making the first part of class run a bit smoother.

Challenges

  • Students had to talk during the experience. However, they could hear other students talking at the same time which seemed distracting and made some a bit self-conscious. Therefore, noise-cancelling headphones will be preferable.

Good advice for other teachers

  • Consider the reason for including VR in teaching. Is it to engage and motivate students, is it to include a subject or teaching method otherwise not possible? 

  • Do not make the teaching activity too long. VR leads to a higher cognitive load than other media and the headsets are not comfortable to wear for too long. If the students need to wear a headset for more than 45 minutes, consider which headset it is and whether additional equipment and make it better (e.g., the Elite Headstrap for the Oculus Quest 2).

Basic information

Educator Lasse Lui Frandsen; Konstantinos Koumaditis 
Faculty and department Department of Business Development and Technology, AU BSS 
Degree programme Technology Based Business Development Engineering 
Level of study Master’s 
Course/subject Engineering Project Management
Number of students 15
Teaching format Small class teaching 
Implementation F23

Links and materials

Lasse Lui Frandsen

PhD Student
M
H 8001, 2114
P +4587168868

Contact

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Revised 03.12.2024