Evaluation of a Virtual Reality-Based Open Educational Resource Software

• Published in: Journal of medical education and curricular development Vol. 11; p. 23821205241242220
• Main Authors: Würstle, Silvia, Spanke, Lisa-Marie, Mehlhase, Niklas, Stanley, Gail, Koff, Jonathan, Dimitriadis, Stavros, König, Sarah, Hann, Alexander
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2024; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Computer Simulation; Educational Resources; Medical students; Multiple choice; Open educational resources; Original Research; Pancreatic cancer; Prior Learning; Programming; Questionnaires; Simulation; Uncommonly Taught Languages; Usability; Virtual reality; virtual reality; open educational resource software; medical education; educational tools
• ISSN: 2382-1205; 2382-1205
• DOI: 10.1177/23821205241242220

OBJECTIVES Virtual reality (VR) teaching methods have potential to support medical students acquire increasing amounts of knowledge. EVENT (Easy VR EducatioN Tool) is an open educational resource software for immersive VR environments, which is designed for use without programming skills. In this work, EVENT was used in a medical student VR course on pancreatic cancer. METHODS Medical students were invited to participate in the course. Before and after VR simulation, participants completed a multiple-choice knowledge assessment, with a maximum score of 10, and a VR experience questionnaire. The primary endpoint compared pre- and post-VR simulation test scores. Secondary endpoints included usability and factors that could affect learning growth and test results. RESULTS Data from 117 of the 135 participating students was available for analysis. Student test scores improved by an average of 3.4 points (95% CI 3.1-3.7, P < 0.001) after VR course. The secondary endpoints of gender, age, prior knowledge regarding the medical subject, professional training completed in the medical field, video game play, three-dimensional imagination skills, or cyber-sickness had no major impact on test scores or final ranking (top or bottom 25%). The 27 students whose post-VR simulation test scores ranked in the top 25% had no prior experience with VR. The average System Usability Scale score was 86.1, which corresponds to an excellent outcome for user-friendliness. Questionnaire responses post-VR simulation show students (81.2% [95/117]) interest in more VR options in medical school. CONCLUSIONS We present a freely available software that allows for the development of VR teaching lessons without programming skills.