| Project Name | Scaling Up and Sustaining an Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Learning Environment: Using VR to Build Student Knowledge, Skills, and Empathy for Integrating Trauma Informed Practices |
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| Principal Investigator | Louanne Bakk |
| Campus | University at Buffalo |
| Year of Project | 2023 |
| Amount of Award: | $43,500.00 |
| Overview Summary | This project creates, beta tests, and assesses a more accessible version of an extant Virtual Reality Learning Environment situated in an immersive mental health clinic in order to encourage students to learn the principles of Trauma Informed Care and to develop empathy for client perspectives on health care service provision. |
| Project Abstract | The University at Buffalo School of Social Work (UBSSW) and the SUNY Brockport School of Social Work intend to create and beta test an accessible version of the UBSSW’s Trauma Informed Virtual Reality Learning Environment (VRLE). Originally created for head-mounted display (HMD) VR units, the environment immerses the student into an outpatient clinic and allows them to experience and assess differences between a clinic that is trauma informed and one that is not. However, HMDs are expensive and not attainable for all students. Adapting the VRLE to mobile devices will expand the reach of this innovation and provide more equitable and inclusive access. Through the adapted VRLE, students will consider how agency design, language, and setting choices impact clients and observe access barriers. The experience helps facilitate empathy and knowledge of how physical settings can affect clients’ attitudes and retention and illustrates the importance of incorporating trauma informed practices. |
| Discipline Specific Pedagogy |
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| Instructional Design |
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| Instructional Technologies |
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