Abstract
The use of serious game tools in training of medical professions is steadily growing. However, there is a lack of reliable performance assessment methods to evaluate learner’s outcome. The aim of this study is to determine whether functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can be used as an additional tool for assessing the learning outcome of virtual reality (VR) based learning modules. The hypothesis is that together with an improvement in learning outcome there would be a decrease in the participants’ cerebral oxygenation levels measured from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) region and an increase of participants’ serious gaming results. To test this hypothesis, the subjects were recruited and divided into four groups with different combinations of prior virtual reality experience and prior Basic Life Support (BLS) knowledge levels. A VR based serious gaming module for teaching BLS and 16-Channel fNIRS system were used to collect data from the participants. Results of the participants’ scores acquired from the serious gaming module were compared with fNIRS measures on the initial and final training sessions. Kruskal Wallis test was run to determine any significant statistical difference between the groups and Mann–Whitney U test was utilized to obtain pairwise comparisons. BLS training scores of the participants acquired from VR based serious game’s the learning management system and fNIRS measurements revealed decrease in use of resources from the PFC, but increase in behavioral performance. Importantly, brain-based measures can provide an additional quantitative metric for trainee’s expertise development and can assist the medical simulation instructors.
Highlights
Advances in new technologies allowed many domains to fulfill their changing needs with a new set of tools
A total of 22 right handed subjects participated in this study classified into four different groups based on their knowledge level in Basic Life Support (BLS) procedure and familiarization with virtual reality (VR) games
Basic life support scores for each group and sessions were calculated by the scoring system of the VR based serious gaming module (Figure 4)
Summary
Advances in new technologies allowed many domains to fulfill their changing needs with a new set of tools. Previous studies have shown the advantages of interactive media tools over standard textbook lessons such as game based learning (Holzinger et al, 2008; Prensky, 2012; Deterding, 2013). Many instructors began to utilize VR-based approach in their teaching activities, due to the capacity of VR technologies to highly engage trainees through virtual environments and dynamic conditions (Hanson and Shelton, 2008; Holzinger et al, 2008; Prensky, 2012; Deterding, 2013). There is a need for an additional tool, enabling instructors to measure the efficacy of the modules and providing them an increased accuracy while assessing the real performance of the trainee
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