The world of education is changing at a pace that’s hard to fathom. The increased prominence of VR training technology raises worthy questions about its effectiveness, questions which the industry-leading Learning Intelligence team at Transfr can confidently answer with “Yes, VR works!”
We sat down with Yun Jin Rho, PhD — Director of Learning Intelligence, and Keith Lyle, PhD — Director of Learning Science, on a special double-episode of Upward, the Transfr podcast to discuss the work they’ve been doing analyzing and understanding how VR works and the learning gains it can drive. (Click here if you haven’t listened to part one: “Is VR Effective?”)
As we continued this illuminating discussion, Yun Jin and Keith drilled down into the methodologies they employ in their studies as well as the results they’re getting back. These two experts conveyed their ideas succinctly and in language that anyone can understand — this one is not to be missed. And when you’re done reading this article and listening to the episode, dive into our collection of amazing VR efficacy studies.
Measuring VR effectiveness along the learning journey
The path to career success starts in school and can take a person in a variety of unexpected directions. (Here’s another podcast episode for you to check out if you want to hear about Yun Jin’s nontraditional career path!) Part of conducting robust, comprehensive research on VR effectiveness means collecting a variety of information at different points in a person’s learning journey and via different methods.
“We measure a whole spectrum of outcomes,” Yun Jin explains. “We follow student learning journeys from enrollment to engagement and learning… to job placement. So every milestone here is very critical for student success and we measure outcomes and metrics at each point and build a collection of evidence.”
Data collection methods range from in-person or online questionnaires to detailed evaluations of learner’s abilities to complete the tasks that they were trained on in VR. However the data is collected, keeping it secure and protecting participants’ privacy are of utmost importance. Yun Jin, Keith, and the entire team are committed to upholding the highest possible ethical standards in VR research.
“When we listen to our customers in these studies, we emphasize ethical research processes,” Yun Jin explains. “From the research design to data collection, we follow all the required processes to protect participants’ data.”
Engaging and inspiring learners with VR
It’s not unusual for people from all walks of life, including instructors in a variety of fields, to be skeptical about using VR, especially for traditionally hands-on focused programs like the skilled trades. Will learners actually build skills in VR? And will the simulations capture and hold students’ attention?
Keith Lyle has spent 25 years studying memory and learning. At Transfr’s lab in Louisville, KY (as well as other locations), he painstakingly evaluates VR learning gains and interviews test participants to better understand their experiences.
“People are excited to get their hands on real tools after VR,” Keith explains. “They are surprised by how much they remember and how much they can do.”
Study after study shows not only how effective VR is at delivering skills training; they also show that learners are highly engaged and enjoy the VR learning experience. Users self-report high levels of engagement with the VR content and that they are highly satisfied with the sims themselves:
“There’s no better way to put it than to say that people are ecstatic about training in VR,” Keith shares. “When you ask people to rate their level of enthusiasm, they max out our scales. They’re choosing the highest possible rating in many cases, exceeding their level of excitement for other ways of learning.”
Driving product improvements with efficacy studies
While it’s all well and good to show how effective Transfr sims are in their current forms, a commitment to constant improvement runs deep across the entire company. For Yun Jin and Keith, that means always looking for ways to make each sim the best it can be.
“If we see a learning result at about 75% we want to try to get that up there,” Keith says. “We’re breaking down the task into sub-steps to evaluate effectiveness and which parts of the simulations are effective and where improvements might be needed.”
This type of research can be especially valuable as companies expand into new areas. Transfr’s new Virtual Healthcare Clinic trains learners on vital healthcare tasks. Determining how successful these sims are and how they can be improved is important to help train the healthcare workforce of the future and deliver the highest level of care to patients.
“Since we launched the new Health Sciences product, we want to better understand how the students are benefiting from these new simulations,” says Yun Jin. “We conduct user research to pinpoint exactly which parts of our product may not work so we can identify those areas to improve and make our product better.”
Forging new directions in VR research
VR isn’t exactly as new as people may think it is — the first VR flight trainer from GE debuted in 1972 — but it’s still not very deeply understood by many instructors, counselors, and professional tradespeople. The work Yun Jin, Keith, and their teams are doing is helping advance the overall knowledge of how this technology works and how it can be improved, to hopefully help more people get on their unique pathways to well-paying jobs in high-growth industries.
“We’re in a world with lots of different new technology,” says Yun Jin. “VR is one new technology that we’ve introduced into the learning environment and we’ve seen a positive impact. We want to know how we can help people change their lives… That’s the goal of our efficacy research.”
About Keith and Yun Jin
Dr. Keith Lyle, Director of Learning Sciences at Transfr, has been studying learning and memory for 25 years. He is the author of nearly 50 scientific papers and has received multiple research grants from the National Science Foundation. His many hobbies include going to the movies, running, reading comic books, and practicing the peaceful martial art of Aikido.
Yun Jin Rho, Ph.D., Director of Data Science at Transfr, has been in the EdTech world since 2010. She is an inventor who holds four patents regarding learners’ skill estimation and predictive recommendation in adaptive learning. When she’s not helping build the future of VR training, she enjoys playing piano and listening to her son singing.
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