An international collaboration to enhance learning about military veterans and post-traumatic stress: Creating virtual simulation games

Students are hungry for innovative learning methods they can control and use on their schedule. Educators are equally eager to provide meaningful and easily accessible learning opportunities for students. The creation of virtual simulation games (VSG) allows faculty to control the content and objectives, thereby making the game contextually relevant to learner needs.

An international collaboration between nurse researchers in Canada and the United States, and active duty military personnel was created to share innovative teaching methods in the creation of VSGs. Scripts, decision points, and objectives were developed during an afternoon session and filming was completed the following day. Using Go-Pro cameras and iPads, the VSG scenes were filmed from the viewpoint of the nurse to facilitate student immersion into the role of the nurse. While watching the VSG, students come to decision points where they are required to select their response to a patient situation. Once chosen, students will see the result of their choice, whether correct or not the best selection, receiving immediate feedback for right-on-time learning.

This presentation will include an overview of the process of script writing, decision point development, and filming, as well as the VSG development. An example of a scene will be filmed during the presentation and transferred into the Articulate software template to demonstrate the user-friendly process.

The international collaboration gives members access to a VSG repository including additional educational resources for use with Canadian and American students. Additional VSGs are in development for continuation of the stories of our veterans.