MESH360: a framework for designing MMR-enhanced clinical simulations

Thomas Cochrane,Claudio Aguayo,Stuart Cook,Norm Wilkinson,Stephen Aiello

doi:10.25304/rlt.v28.2357

Thomas Cochrane, Claudio Aguayo + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v28.2357

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Abstract

This article evaluates the results of two prototype iterations of a design-based research project that explores the application of mobile mixed reality (MMR) to enhance critical care clinical health education simulation in Paramedicine. The project utilises MMR to introduce critical elements of patient and practitioner risk and stress into clinical simulation learning scenarios to create more authentic learning environments. Subjective participant feedback is triangulated against participant biometric data to validate the level of participant stress introduced to clinical simulation through the addition of MMR. Results show a positive impact on the learning experience for both novice and professional paramedic practitioners. The article highlights the development of implementation and data triangulation methodologies that can be utilised to enhance wider clinical simulation contexts than the original context of Paramedicine education. We argue that our collaborative transdisciplinary design team model provides a transferable framework for designing MMR-enhanced clinical simulation environments. This article is part of the special collection Mobile Mixed Reality Enhanced Learning edited by Thom Cochrane, James Birt, Helen Farley, Vickel Narayan and Fiona Smart. More papers from this collection can be found here.

Highlights

Since 2016 the authors have established a collaborative transdisciplinary project team (MESH360) that has explored the potential of mobile mixed reality (MMR) to enhance health education
While each project iteration focused upon a specific research question linked to a predetermined pedagogical goal, they are both linked by a common research methodology (McKenney and Reeves 2019) and a research question: How can we design clinical simulation learning environments that are more authentic, facilitate the development of higher order critical thinking and are cost-effective?
Thematic analysis of subjective participants’ data (Tobias and Duffy 2009; Vasilevski and Birt 2019) revealed that the most positive participant feedback was from the second-year students and the professional paramedics – both groups were the most enthusiastic about the value added by the virtual reality (VR)-enhanced simulation to their learning

Summary

Introduction

Since 2016 the authors have established a collaborative transdisciplinary project team (MESH360) that has explored the potential of mobile mixed reality (MMR) to enhance health education (https://www.researchgate.net/project/MESH360). The MESH360 team is focused upon preparing higher education health care students with the practice and critical diagnostic capabilities they will need as professional health practitioners in the 21st century. A design-based research methodology informs the design and refinement of low-cost MMR technologies to increase the authenticity of both low-fidelity and high-fidelity clinical simulation learning environments (Cochrane et al 2016, 2018b, 2009). Through the initial scoping and literature analysis stage of the project, we identified a paucity of literature and longitudinal research that critically engages with the intersection of learning theory, the design of clinical simulation learning. Learning Technology (ALT), a UK-based professional and scholarly society and membership organisation.

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