Virtual Reality Instructional Design in Orthopedic Physical Therapy Education

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The objective of this study is to assess the effects of virtual reality instructional design on physical therapy students' clinical decision-making skills, as compared with a traditional method of instruction with the same content and duration of exposure.

Detailed Description
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An online random number generator will be used to randomize students into one of two groups: virtual reality instruction or role-paying instruction. All students will complete self-reported measures of clinical decision-making and metacognitive awareness prior to receiving their allocated instruction. While completing allocated instruction (either virtual reality or role-playing), measures of diagnostic accuracy and diagnostic efficiency will be collected. Following virtual reality or role-playing instruction, all included subjects will complete post-test measures of clinical decision-making ,metacognitive awareness, and engagement. One week later, all included subjects will be assessed on a musculoskeletal objective structured clinical examination (mOSCE).

Official Title
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Virtual Reality Instructional Design in Orthopedic Physical Therapy Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing the Effects of Virtual Reality With Role-Playing Learning

Conditions
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Virtual Reality

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Virtual reality instructional design
* Other: Role-playing instructional design


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Students enrolled in their first year of physical therapy school at SU Exclusion Criteria: Students enrolled in their second or third year of physical therapy school at SU

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 22 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Virtual reality instructional design<br>Completion of virtual reality simulation of an outpatient physical therapy evaluation. | Other: Virtual reality instructional design<br>* 60 minute immersive VR experience with branching method information delivery, physical therapy assessment, and diagnosis.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Role-playing instructional design<br>Completion of traditional role-playing of a scripted outpatient physical therapy evaluation | Other: Role-playing instructional design<br>* 60 minute traditional role-playing with standardized patient<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in clinical decision-making | The Clinical Decision-Making Tool (CDM-Tool), a Likert-style questionnaire with 12 items, scored on a four-point scale. A higher raw score indicates a higher level of perceived decision-making ability. | pre- and post-instructional design (immediately after completing virtual reality or role-playing) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in metacognitive awareness | Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), a Likert-style questionnaire with 52-items, scored on a five-point scale. A higher raw score indicates a higher level of perceived metacognitive awareness. | pre and post-instructional design (immediately after completing virtual reality or role-playing) | 
| Self-reported measure of engagement | Six-item, five-point Likert-style instrument. A higher raw score indicates greater level of student engagement. | Post-instruction (immediately after completing either virtual reality or role-playing experience) | 
| Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) | Practical examination with 2 cases, assessing a student's ability to generate hypotheses, perform tests or measures to rule-in or rule-out hypotheses, and deliver an appropriate intervention. | 1 week following allocated instruction (either virtual reality or role-playing) |