Enhancing social work education about domestic and family violence through virtual reality simulations

Enhancing social work education about domestic and family violence through virtual reality simulations

Domestic and family Violence (DFV) is a global issue, necessitating a proactive response from social workers. As such, social work graduates must possess the requisite skills and knowledge to respond effectively in practice. To aid social work students’ readiness to respond to DFV, an innovative approach involving the use of virtual reality (VR) has been established as an output of this thesis. VR can be used to support student learning by providing immersive experiences that foster formative skill development. Consequently, it presents a distinctive advantage in ensuring all social work students, irrespective of where they engage in placement, are predisposed to DFV content in a scaffolded manner. Drawing on a mixed-method co-design research approach, the author developed procedural knowledge about how to create VR experiences based on real-world scenarios to offer experiential learning to social work students. The VR artifacts were developed through extensive collaboration with community stakeholders, a key design feature of the study. The thesis by publication is comprised of three articles, each depicting a different design stage (Hoadley & Campos, 2022). Article 1: ‘Unveiling graduate readiness to respond to domestic and family violence in Australian social work programs’, quantitatively defines the problem areas, and the subsequent areas of focus during the simulation design. Article 2: ‘Virtual Simulations to Educate Social Work Students About Domestic and Family Violence: A Scoping Review’ is a comprehensive scoping review of the use of virtual simulations to educate social workers about DFV. This study influenced the decisions made during the second design-phase, including determinations made about design processes and design concepts. The final article: ‘A Blueprint for Domestic and Family Violence Education in Social Work Through Virtual Reality Design’ presents the procedural knowledge about the design process of VR simulations for social work curriculum, highlighting the key themes identified through interviews with the community advisory group involved in the VR design process. The stages of development and implementation are discussed. The overarching thesis offers valuable insights for educators and curriculum developers looking to incorporate VR simulations, providing instructional design recommendations and forward-thinking suggestions to advance the field of DFV education in social work. Its utility is also applicable to others seeking to enhance their DFV professional practice competencies.

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