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Advancing virtual patient simulations through design research and interPLAY: part II—integration and field test

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Abstract

In Part I of this two-part series, we examined the design and development of NERVE: A virtual patient simulation created to give medical students standardized experiences in interviewing, examining, and diagnosing virtual patients with cranial nerve disorders. We illustrated key design features and discussed how design-based research studies improved the total learning experience, including the virtual patient (VP) simulations and the instructional features incorporated with the simulations. In Part II, we examine the efficacy of NERVE and the strategy used to integrate the system into the medical school curriculum by field-testing it with 119 s-year medical students, and measuring students’ use, reactions, learning, and transfer. We report findings and reflect on lessons learned from the field-test to posit recommendations for improvement and guide the future research and development of virtual patient simulations.

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Acknowledgments

Research reported in this paper was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number 1R01LM010813-01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education & Human Performance, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

    Atsusi Hirumi & Ramsamooj Javier Reyes

  2. School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA

    Teresa Johnson

  3. College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

    Benjamin Lok & Diego J. Rivera-Gutierrez

  4. College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, USA

    Kyle Johnsen & Kenneth Bogert

  5. College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

    Stacey Kubovec, Michael Bellew & Juan Cendan

  6. Institute for Simulation and Training, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

    Michael Eakins

  7. College of Engineering and Information Technology, UMBC, Baltimore, USA

    Andrea Kleinsmith

  8. Instructional Design & Technology Program, Department of Education and Human Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA

    Atsusi Hirumi

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  1. Atsusi Hirumi
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  2. Teresa Johnson
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  3. Ramsamooj Javier Reyes
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  4. Benjamin Lok
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  5. Kyle Johnsen
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  6. Diego J. Rivera-Gutierrez
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  7. Kenneth Bogert
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  8. Stacey Kubovec
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  10. Andrea Kleinsmith
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Correspondence to Atsusi Hirumi.

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Hirumi, A., Johnson, T., Reyes, R.J. et al. Advancing virtual patient simulations through design research and interPLAY: part II—integration and field test. Education Tech Research Dev 64, 1301–1335 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9461-6

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