Abstract:
Most students may not have a chance to have face-to-face contact with persons with mental disorders when they learn about abnormal psychology. Without such experience, students may not be able to put themselves into the shoes of those with mental disorders and empathize with them. This may hinder their ability to understand the meaning of different abstract psychological concepts and situations. This TDG project aimed to develop a set of teaching resources with the use of Second Life, which is an interactive 3-D virtual reality playground that could create some experiences that are closely related to the features of mental disorders, so that students could have an opportunity to learn experientially. The current project therefore aimed at examining the beneficial learning effects of such realistic experience in understanding people with Schizophrenia. The students were divided into two groups: experimental group and control group (Second Life experience versus video lecture). The effectiveness of using this interactive teaching tool to enhance students’ knowledge about schizophrenia, the ability to empathize with people with schizophrenia, learning motivation, and stigma against people with schizophrenia were assessed through quizzes, pre-test and post-test measures. The results of these assessments provided useful insights for the development and usage of different innovative e-learning tools.
Code:
T0181
Principal Project Supervisors:
Keywords provided by authors:
Start Date:
01 Apr 2017
End Date:
31 Mar 2018
Status:
Completed
Result:
A total of 132 participants were distributed randomly into experimental group or control group. Both groups with an equal number of participants and completed the required tasks including two identical questionnaires at pre-test and post-test.
Based on the results of paired sample t-test, the scores of knowledge in the experimental group at the post-test were significantly better (M=3.79, SD=.838, p
Impact:
Using Second Life to teach psychology-related courses brought an array of benefits to our students: First, the uniqueness of the 3-D virtual world provided opportunities for rich sensory-immersive experiences. Students were being exposed to some psychological symptoms of schizophrenia such as auditory and visual hallucinations that they can have experiential learning. After making such personal connections with the knowledge and concepts, students learned more quickly.
Second Life provided opportunities for students to take e-quizzes. For example, students were being asked to complete multiple-choice and true-or-false questions during the e-learning process. Through e-quizzes, students obtained instant feedback and guidance. As such, e-quizzes guided student's independent learning and revision.
By using Second Life, the teaching effectiveness of lecturers was enhanced. Specifically, Second Life help encourage students to proactively engage in their own learning, exchange ideas with peers, offer opportunities for them to learn from multiple sources and ways, enhanced their psychological knowledge or skills, inspired them to think and learn, provided them with timely and appropriate feedback, and address their needs in learning. In this way, lecturers were able to help students attain the programme intended learning outcomes and the course intended learning outcomes.
Deliverables:
Seminars/Presentations/Sharing Sessions
Chan, K. S. K., Poon, K. T. I., & Wong, T. Y. T. (2018, July). Second Life Workshop for MSocScP(SCS) students. Workshop conducted at The Education University of Hong Kong. (No. of participants: 15 postgraduate students)
Chan, K. S. K., Poon, K. T. I., & Wong, T. Y. T. (2017, October to November). Second Life Workshop for BSocSc(PSY) students and BEd students. Workshop conducted at The Education University of Hong Kong. (No. of participants: 66 undergraduate students)
Chan, K. S. K., Poon, K. T. I., & Wong, T. Y. T. (2018, July). Second Life Workshop series for newly admitted BSocSc(PSY) students. Workshop conducted at The Education University of Hong Kong. (No. of participants: 15 undergraduate students)
Chan, K. S. K., Poon, K. T. I., & Wong, T. Y. T. (2018, July 6). Using Second Life as a Virtual Environment for Learning. Sharing session conducted at The Education University of Hong Kong. (No. of participants: 15 academic/teaching staff and students)
Teaching Resources
User manual of Second Life
Financial Year:
2016-17
Type:
TDG