Publication Date
2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Committee Members
Thomas Wischgoll, Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Yong Pei, Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael L. Raymer, Ph.D. (Committee Member); Paul J. Hershberger, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Abstract
Inadequate professional training and practices related to health care may result in severe complications to care experiences and outcomes. Moreover, healthcare professionals are as susceptible to the possibility of implicit biases as any other group. Importantly, the health care training is critical and challenging as minor prejudicial beliefs have an adverse influence or serious consequences on patients' health outcomes. Thus, facilitating serious role-playing virtual care practices along with raising awareness of healthcare professionals about the enduring impact of implicit/explicit biases and Social Determinants of Health (SDH) on health outcomes assist to advance the patient-provider relation, care experiences (e.g., healthcare experience and patient care experience), and promote health equity. In addition, employing the “learning by doing” approach for health care practices directly in real-life is less preferred wherein high-risk care is essential. Thus, there is a high scope and demand for the utilization of alternative ways which can facilitate a self-driven and self-motivational digital experiential learning approach with the integration of innovative computer technology that encourages learners to acquire professional development skills. The primary focus of this research is to deliver Computer-Supported Experiential Learning (CSEL) and Computer-Supported Expert-Guided Experiential Learning (CSEGEL) approaches to deliver professional development skills (e.g., healthcare skills). Specifically, this research and development deliver CSEL and CSEGEL approaches-based serious role-playing games or mobile applications as digital experiential learning tools by integrating first-person virtual role-playing scenarios to enhance healthcare skills (e.g., cultural humility, professional communication, awareness of the enduring impact of both social determinants of health and implicit/explicit biases on health outcomes, and compassionate and empathetic attitude) of healthcare professionals and for public awareness. The CSEGEL approach is an extended version of the CSEL approach which integrates the virtual expert guide or instructor that assists to deliver an additional layer of knowledge-based information and evaluation for augmenting the learning outcomes of learners or application users. Moreover, this research and development facilitate the virtual reality-based serious role-playing games or mobile applications by utilizing the CSEL and CSEGEL approaches which help to develop compassionate and empathetic attitudes while reducing the barrier of prejudicial biases that may be present in healthcare professionals towards certain groups of patients. Furthermore, this research demonstrates that the CSEGEL approach (i.e., integration of the expert guidance and evaluation mechanism in the CSEL approach), can be not only utilized for the professional development of healthcare professionals but also for other individuals or public awareness to comprehend and develop proficiency with communication skills. To exemplify, this research illustrates the utilization of the CSEGEL approach in enhancing professional communication skills to efficiently interact with autistic people. In addition, this research delivers the analysis of the learners’ or participants’ experiential data which authenticate that the CSEL approach, CSEGEL approach, and the described mobile applications or serious role-playing games are effective in the enhancement of learners’ learning outcomes. Finally, in this research, a few developmental challenges, optimization strategies, and technical concepts are discussed to deliver insights and learning about the development of this research.
Page Count
332
Department or Program
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Year Degree Awarded
2022
Copyright
Copyright 2023, all rights reserved. My ETD will be available under the "Fair Use" terms of copyright law.
ORCID ID
0000-0002-7547-0977
