Using A Simulation to Improve Learning Outcomes In An Undergraduate Determinants of Health Course

Abstract

To allow reality to be brought into the classroom, simulation based learning can be used. Digital technology is reshaping the student experience in and out of the classroom and it is reforming the ways students read and think. The pedagogical benefits of simulations offer new ways to achieve a more student‐centered and teacher‐centered double‐centered approach. Simulations can be used as an educational tool with which the student can physically interact to mimic real‐life situations. Simulations based learning can be an effective approach to develop complex skills. Moreover, simulation based learning allows limitations of learning in reality to be overcome. A unique aspect of using simulations as an educational tool allows for the opportunity to alter and adjust aspects of reality which facilitates learning and practice. When you think about being healthy what comes to mind? Typically we think about physical and mental health, but it includes so much more. Being healthy incorporates mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, environmental, and social well‐being. It also focuses on areas that influence health such as housing, transportation, food, race, and socioeconomic status. These are known as determinants of health and can impact health and the health of communities. Simulations have the power to immediately standardize the context for those that have little awareness of the actualities of particular situations such as homelessness, poverty, and inequalities and increase prosocial behavior and empathetic concern. The technology has the ability to deliver messaging and true, lived experiences faster and at scale, giving people the ability to truly connect and relate to the subject matter at hand. For example, in one virtual experience you may walk through a community with sidewalks and complete streets, a grocery store nearby, and a subway station right around the corner. In another scenario, you may be walking along the street carefully avoiding traffic with no healthy food options or public transportation in sight. How do these two scenarios impact the heath of individuals that are in these two different scenarios? There has been little to no research in the area of simulations in the area of public health at the undergraduate level. Therefore, a digital simulation will be used to analyze the impact of learning outcomes. To achieve this, undergraduate public health majors taking Determinants of Health at Georgia State University participated in the study (N=55) The simulation known as SPENT was used to assess the effects of poverty simulation on student’s beliefs, attitudes, and actions. Data was collected using Qualtrics as the survey instrument. As a result of the stimulation, 81% of students felt like the activity helped them better understand the effects of poverty on health. Moreover, after completing the simulation 98% of the students understood the complexity of poverty. In conclusion, simulations can be effectively used to facilitate the learning of complex processes in the public health field.