A Design Model for Using Virtual Reality in Behavioral Skills Training

Abstract

This study suggests a design model for developing virtual reality (VR)-based learning environments which can be used for basic behavioral skills training. VR-Based Fire Safety Training Environment (VR-FST) was designed considering the principles of the persuasive technology. Following the suggested model, VR-FST was setup by integrating head-mounted display and joysticks on the Second Life. Evaluations through participants’ perspectives indicated that the VR-FST environment designed through the proposed model framework can provide high presence and the participants who use the environment perceived the VR-FST as realistic. The results indicate that the learning environments based on the VR-FST model can improve fire safety behavioral skills. It is thought that behavioral skills including danger can be safely delivered by employing the behavioral skills training approach, especially for young children. Current limitations and future refinements as well as suggestions for practitioners and researchers are also included.

Keywords

behavioral skills training virtual reality persuasive technology presence design model

Introduction

The advent of virtual reality (VR) technology in the recent decade has driven the growth of its use in various educational contexts of the institutes over the world. As pedagogical approaches for learning-centered education continue to spread around the world, innovative technological approaches that offer more experiential learning opportunities are increasingly gaining value (The New Media Consortium, 2017). One of the approaches emerged in this direction is VR. VR is defined as computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) simulations of a real world in which users can sense and interact this simulation environment with the special devices worn on their body (Ausburn & Ausburn, 2004; Chuah, Chen, & Teh, 2008; Freina & Ott, 2015; Negut, Matu, Sava, & David, 2016; Serrano, Baños, & Botella, 2016). Visuals in VR environments can be presented as a dynamic reflection of the objects in the real world and can be controlled with various devices (Stull, 2009).

Two types of VR approaches are generally used as the reflection of the real world in the training processes: immersive VR and nonimmersive VR. The concept of immersive is stated as the experience of sense of being in a context of a task without being conscious of the time as if it were in the real world (Bailenson et al., 2008). Nonimmersive or desktop VR is defined as 3D visuals created with multimedia tools on the computers and can be explored interactively using typical input devices such as monitor, keyboard, or mouse (Chen, Toh, & Fauzy, 2004; Gazit, Yair, & Chen, 2006). 3D games and simulations are basic examples of nonimmersive VR. In the immersive VR approach, participants experience an intense feeling about their location in the virtual environment (Adams, 2004) and they feel psychologically as they are in this environment (Blascovich & Bailenson, 2006). Room-sized 3D displays, CAVE and head-mounted displays (HMDs) are the technologies used in virtual reality training implementations. The sense of presence and immerse allow users to move around in the environment, feeling like they are part of the virtual environment (Passing, David, & Eshel-Kedmi, 2016). Thus, high level of perceived reality and interactivity provided by the VR environments is important to create positive learning outcomes in the training of different skills (Bulu, 2012; Huang, Liaw, & Lai, 2016; Minocha & Reeves, 2010). In this respect, users can perceive the virtual environments as if they were in the real world and the systems for VR-based training generally focus on to provide associations with the skills to be developed and affordances of the systems.

The Use of Virtual Reality in Skills Training

In VR-based learning environments, learning experiences in skills training via learning by doing approach can be provided similar to the real-life situations (Huang, Rauch, & Liaw, 2010). In this framework, the prior studies of skills training are somewhat limited in some areas for a variety of reasons such as time problem (Roussou, 2004), physical accessibility (Detlefsen, 2014), ethical problems (Liu, 2014), and especially life-threatening (Williams-Bell, Kapralos, Hogue, Murphy, & Weckman, 2015). A wider lense of VR technology can remedy some of the limitations in such contexts.

Researchers argue that VR is especially useful for educational scenarios with life-threatening and inaccessible situations (Freina & Ott, 2015; Stansfield, Shawver, Rogers, & Hightower, 1995). VR-based training enables more meaningful and permanent learning of some information presented only with written texts or simple models and motivates participants to apply them repeatedly in a safe way for specific danger situations (Kinateder et al., 2014). In this regard, it is promising to carry out skills development training for emergency scenarios based on virtual reality (Smith & Ericson, 2009).

In skills training, a demonstration of desired behavior is provided first, and then the similar behavior is expected to be exhibited by the trainees. This method suffices to acquire most behavioral skills, but it is insufficient to acquire the skills for situations that are life-threatening and have no opportunity to practice repeatedly. In this kind of training for life-threatening situations, generally a theoretical transfer of knowledge is provided rather than experiencing behavioral skills (Chittaro & Ranon, 2009). Researchers also point out that the sense of reality cannot be adequately experienced by the participants since sufficient realistic practice environments cannot be created in the presentation-based training. In this case, it is not possible to learn when, where, and how to perform the behaviors for the skills in the training. In this context, it can be considered that the use of the VR approach can support the development of the behavioral skills in the training for such situations. Hence, the level of perceived reality of VR environments for skills training is in relation with nature of the behaviors and reactions that users exhibit.

In the VR environments, it is important for the users to perceive the environment as realistic and to be more convinced that they are acting in the real environment. Various perspectives based on the persuasiveness that the experiences of the users are real.

Persuasiveness in VR Environments

By increasing the level of immersion of the VR environment, the presence can be enhanced and the users can be convinced that they are in the environment. This suggests a significant relationship between perceived reality level and persuasion of the VR environment. In order to convince users that such systems are expected to offer more real-life sensing experience, principles of persuasive technology (PT) have been put forward (Fogg, 2003).

PT is defined as an interdisciplinary technology designed to change the attitudes or behaviors of individuals through persuasion and social influence within a specific purpose (Fogg, 2003). PT has the potential to motivate individuals to take responsibility in the learning process and to perform specific learning tasks using the developed materials (Fogg, 2003). The approach is used in a wide range of devices, from mobile devices to computers, video games to VR technology. Computer-assisted persuasive applications are used by instructional designers in order to motivate learners in the process of acquiring new knowledge and skills. In addition, attitude, behavior, motivation, and adaptation which are important components of the learning-teaching process may be improved via implementations of PT (Ersoy, 2014). The PT field is generally designed through captology approach. Figure 1 shows the scope of the captology.

Figure 1.

PT field.

Captology is a newly coined word that describes the study of computers as PT. Fogg (2009) suggests eight steps in terms of effectiveness in design processes for PT. These steps are as follows: (1) to choose a simple behavior to target, (2) to choose a receptive audience, (3) to find what is preventing the target behavior, (4) to choose an appropriate technology channel, (5) to find relevant examples of PT, (6) to imitate successful examples, (7) to test & iterate quickly, and (8) to expand on success.

Taking the potential of captology, VR technology can be used for persuasive purposes. The relationship between VR and PT is summarized in Table 1.

Table 1.

Relationships Between VR and PT (Yusoff, Zulkifli, & Mohamed, 2011).

Persuasive technology	Virtual reality
They can make it easier for people to do things by making things easier, either by giving people shortcuts to annoying processes or by reminding them that it is time to exercise.	VR for learning can be meant of enhancing, motivating, and stimulating learners’ understanding of certain events, especially those for which the traditional notion of instructional learning has proven inappropriate or difficult.
They can provide an experience, allowing people to explore the cause-and-effect relationships.	VR offers the possibility to recreate the real world as it is or to create completely new worlds, providing experiences that can help people in understanding concepts as well as learning to perform specific tasks, where the task can be repeated as often as required and in a safe environment.
They can create relationships, either with other people or with the program.	Relationship with VRs as an educational tool, or any other media immersion should allow a student to actively become part of learning and reviewing process.

PT-Based VR Environments Development Model

Considering the relationships in Table 1, Kuechler and Vaishnavi (2008) propose a four-stage model for the development of VR-based learning environments. The relevant model consists of the process of awareness of problem, suggestion, development, evaluating, and conclusion. The relevant model and design process is shown in Table 2.

Table 2.

Design Approach Using PT in VR Environments (Kuechler & Vaishnavi, 2008).

Process	Tasks
Awareness of problem	Factors that affect the participants’ efficiently sharing of information and identification of student needs are detected.
Suggestion	The first prototype is designed in line with the needs of the participants and the organization.
Development	Prototypes are designed and developed according to the level of knowledge of the participants before the final solution is established and put into practice.
Evaluation	The effectiveness of the proposed solution is measured with a case study design.
Conclusion	The results of the research are presented.

In Figure 2, the model developed by Yusoff et al. (2011) is schematized as a result of the integration of the persuasive design principles proposed by Fogg (2009) on the research design proposed by Kuechler and Vaishnavi (2008).

Figure 2.

Design model proposed by Yusoff et al. (2011).

In the awareness of problem, researchers need to analyze current practices, developments, current situation, and problems related to the field. In the section of choose a simple behavior to target, the basic behavior patterns are expected to be exhibited during the training aimed at the intended achievement are determined. During the choose a receptive audience section, the appropriate age range for skill training is determined and the participants’ ability to use VR technology is considered. In the process of finding what is preventing the target behavior, it is revealed by investigating situations and limitations that prevent or limit the intended skills to be acquired.

In the suggestion stage, proposals for the design to be formed in accordance with the determined target behaviors, participants, and the objectives of the research are determined and the first prototypes are designed. In the choose an appropriate technology channel, the most appropriate VR technologies for the training should be identified and the effect that each property of the design should be determined. Successful PT examples for skill training are investigated in the process of finding relevant examples of PT. In the imitate successful examples stage, similar implementations of the previous examples are developed.

In the development stage, prototypes are set up according to the knowledge and skill levels of the participants before the final design are put into practice. This stage is important to reveal the actions related to the implementation in the virtual environment. During object modeling, geometric and behavioral modeling is made for the elements to be developed in the VR environment. The optional database conversation stage is optionally performed depending on the storage and hosting of the 3D geometric model files generated by the platform. The virtual environment authoring is a process that combines all the 3D models required for the predesigned and application environment. In the adding interactivity phase, the necessary features for users to interact with the environment are integrated into the system. In the package application, the development process is converted into a package program by compiling the files and materials for the completed software. During the testing and debugging stage, error checking is performed before the prototype is presented to the end user. In the process of delivering the final application to expert, the developed environment is submitted to the expert opinion and final evaluations are made.

The purpose of the evaluation stage is to examine the use of the application as an instructional material by users and experts. During the test & iterate quickly stage, the developed VR application is tested repeatedly by users. In the conclusion stage, the usability status of the developed VR environment to acquire relevant skills is revealed within the data obtained from the applications. In the expand on success stage, dissemination of achievement from practice is focused. But, if persuasive design principles are to be applied to a project, the application of seven steps is sufficient. The final stage has been added to encourage researchers to apply the results obtained in different situations and with participants (Fogg, 2009).

VR-Based Skills Training

VR has significant potential for skill training, such as enhancing personal safety skills through serious game-based trainings and simulators (Backlund, Engstrom, Hammar, Johannesson, & Lebram, 2007), providing self-learning methods (Chittaro & Ranon 2009), and experiencing realistic experiences in high-risk safety training (Smith & Ericson, 2009). The use of VR in training is generally focused in the social life skills, emotional and social adaptation skills, development of hand skills for surgical training, and various behavioral skills for fire safety. In recent years, VR-based simulators and learning environments for skills training are increasingly being used in the training of traffic, first aid, surgical training, safety training, fire safety, and so on (Backlund et al., 2007; Clancy, Rucklidge, & Owen, 2006; Tate, Silbert, & King, 1997).

In one of the VR implementations, Park et al. (2011) applied the social skills training approach in a VR-based form in order to acquire various social skills for mentally handicapped individuals. As a result of the hypothesis that the VR can be used in rehabilitation studies, it has emerged that the individuals using VR technology show more improvement than those using the traditional method in the context of social skills such as communication and initiative. The research indicated that the traditional social skills training can be used to scaffold the account of the advantages of VR to increase motivation and to spread the acquired skills. In another study, Ip et al. (2018) in the process of teaching emotional control and relaxation strategies for various social situations examined the effect of VR on the development of emotional and social adjustment skills of individuals with autism. As a result, VR-based skill training was found to improve the positive emotional control, emotional expression, and social–emotional interaction skills of children with autism.

VR is also used to teach procedural knowledge in the field of surgical education and to develop hand skills. With VR-based surgical training systems, surgeons can improve their hand skill levels and learn various procedures before practicing on patients (Aggarwal et al., 2007; Kühnapfel, Çakmak, & Maaß, 2000; Larsen et al., 2009). In another study, VR is also used to gain the correct behavioral skills in a safe and controlled environment to the miners. The research carried out in this direction reveals that the VR can be used in the field of mining to gain a variety of behavioral skills in control of explosive work area, removal of old explosives, measurement of methane level, adjustment of retaining belts, and preparation of explosives (Grabowski & Jankowski, 2015).

One of the important areas of the use of VR technology in the context of skills training is fire safety. Various VR-based simulators have been designed in order to teach the correct behavioral skills for fire safety (Cha, Han, Lee, & Choi, 2012; DeChamplain et al., 2012; Julien & Shaw, 2003; Smith & Ericson, 2009; Xu, Lu, Guan, Chen, & Ren, 2014). In a VR-based fire safety simulator developed by Julien and Shaw (2003), users can navigate through the environment, view a fire house from different angles, navigate firefighters, monitor realization of given commands, and monitor realistic fire and smoke movements actions. With the simulators, firefighters tried to gain the necessary orientation skills in order to be able to extinguish the flames in a way that would cause the firefighters and the fire house the least damage in the event of a fire. DeChamplain et al. (2012) have developed a highly interactive game-based “Blaze” application to increase awareness of home fires. With this application, participants are able to experience problem-solving skills in a realistic environment and under stress without exposure to such dangerous situations. In another study, Smith and Ericson (2009) have used the immersive VR to learn about children’s fire hazards and try to improve their escape skills. Using CAVE technology, the applications were firstly carried out for children to identify home fire hazards in a simulated virtual environment and then to move away from the environment safely. Cha et al. (2012) found that VR-based simulators contributed to develop skills for fire safety knowledge and skill levels of inexperienced firefighters in firefighting activities such as evacuation and rescue in highway tunnels. In another research, Xu et al. (2014) modeled a metro station and elementary school based on smoke hazard on the basis of VR. In the developed environment, training was provided on how to reliably provide users with safe ways to escape and evacuate. The results showed that such VR-based simulators are useful to learn the evacuation and rescue procedures of individuals and firefighters in a fire.

Aim of the Study

While prior work provides compelling evidence that VR-based learning environments for fire safety are useful, there is still a need for a framework that addresses components such as VR technology, the perception of reality, and the presentation of skills in the virtual environments. In this research, a VR model developed for fire safety training and student evaluations regarding this application are presented. Thus, the design process of the VR-FST environment developed for basic skills training on fire safety through the model framework presented by Yusoff et al. (2011).

VR-Based Fire Safety Training Environment (VR-FST)

In this study, the design process of the VR-FST environment is developed by following the framework presented by Yusoff et al. (2011). VR-FST has been developed to provide basic behavioral skills for fire safety to young children. VR-FST was created by integrating HMD into Second Life (SL) environment. Participants’ navigation in the environment is provided using a joystick. Following the framework depicted in Figure 2, the development process of the model VR-FST environment is presented.

Awareness of problem

A significant risk group among individuals exposed to fire is children. Children remain unprotected during the fire and generally expect help from an adult without knowing how to behave. However, this help is not always possible and the fire can result in injury or death. When the causes of death-related injuries of children are examined, fire and related burns occur in the third cause of death of children between 1 and 14 years (Fingerhut, Cox, & Warner, 1998). When the causes of deaths related to injuries of children aged 5 to 9 are listed, it is seen that fire hazard is among the top 10 reasons (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). In this context, it is important to increase the knowledge, skills, and experience of children about fire safety and fire protection independent from adults in order to reduce the risk. Fire safety training for children is generally carried out by school teachers with colorful brochures, videos, and presentations but not sufficiently effective (Carroll, Miltenberger, & O’Neill, 1992). Studies show that children trained in this way cannot keep themselves safe enough in a real danger (Beck & Miltenberber 2009; Himle, Miltenberger, Flessner, & Gatheridge, 2004). Hence, the given training and events do not go beyond the theoretical presentations and simple exercises where the participants are usually audience. Considering these trainings as insufficient to gain the relevant security skills, a fire safety training platform with safe, realistic, low cost, and repeatable features is found necessary to establish.

Choose a simple behavior to target

It is emphasized that 70% of the fire-related injuries and 80% of the fire-related injuries occur during the residence fires, even though the residence fires have a rate of 23% in all types of fires (Karter, 2011). In this direction, current research focuses on the achievement of safe behavioral skills for residential fires from fire varieties. There is no specific form for safety behaviors in fires because of reasons such as residential fires are different, residences are made up of different structures, and different construction materials are used. But, the resources about the residential fires propose the general requirements and suggestions for basic behaviors. To define simple behaviors to the target, the forms of behaviors in this study were determined as a result of the studies conducted by examining such resources.

Choose a receptive audience

Participants of this study consisted of children in the 9 to 11 age-group. The studies emphasize that children in this age-group are particularly at risk for fire-related injuries and causes of death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011; Fingerhut et al., 1998). On the other hand, an attention has been paid to Fogg (2009) as an appropriate target audience in the framework of PT that participants are able to use VR technology.

Find what is preventing the target behavior

Fire drills are held regularly every year in schools by fire departments. In these drills, first, what to do in case of a real fire is explained theoretically and then practical training is carried out. The practice generally begins with the fire alarm, evacuation of the building, animation of the representative rescue scenario, and extinguishing a representative fire by firefighters. After the fire drills, it is assumed that the children have acquired the relevant skills; however, the children often cannot exhibit the skills. The reasons for not exhibiting the behaviors that are focused at this stage in the working design are generally neglected. With lack of the behavioral skills, children are often vulnerable during the fire and await help from adults and specialists. In fact, help and intervention may sometimes be delayed and sometimes they are impossible. Increasing the knowledge, skills, and experience of children in protecting them from fire safety and fire protection will be beneficial in preventing negative results. Thus, it is thought that these once-yearly and more theoretically conducted drills do not adequately provide children with relevant behavioral skills for residential fires.

Suggestion

At this stage, storyboards were prepared in which the design of the learning environment to be developed in the research process and the fire safety training to be given over this environment are characterized. On the storyboards, participants’ and instructors’ roles in the training are defined on VR-FST and the suggested behaviors are presented.

Choose an appropriate technology channel

At this stage, VR has been selected as an appropriate technology in terms of facilitating the learning the topics or situations that are difficult to learn by traditional methods. The technology has also motivating and encouraging potentials for learners in the learning process. Table 1 indicates these relationships including the affordances of VR and PT. Scenarios are needed in virtual reality applications to meet some basic requirements, such as participation in sensory experimentation, attracting attention, and providing perceptions of VR as real experience, in terms of achieving the intent of the intervention realized (Silva, Donat, Rigoli, de Oliveira, & Kristensen, 2016). These scenarios can be created on 3D virtual worlds such as SL, ActiveWorlds, and OpenSimulator. These virtual worlds are created with the integration of immersive technologies such as HMDs in which users are able to experience an interactive and high level of presence. In this research, SL was preferred as an infrastructure for VR technology. An HMD was used to allow participants to view the SL as it immersive.

Find relevant examples of PT

At this stage, it is recommended to investigate successful PT examples for intervention to be carried out (Fogg, 2009). Taking the SL environment as the application platform, appropriate examples of the application aimed to be realized on this environment in this stage. The images of the application examples examined are presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Application visuals samples.

Imitate successful examples

The previous fire safety and fire protection applications on SL indicate that they are mostly applied as a simulation to train professional firefighters. Professional teams, as well as individual users, can act as firefighters by participating in these environments and intervene in the fire which are generally occur in places such as schools or shopping centers. This research focuses on house designs that children can encounter in everyday life, as it is intended to apply for residential fires. House samples and fire conditions created by fire and smoke effects were investigated. The scenes from examples developed are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4.

Sample application visuals.

Development

The development stage is divided into three substages, preauthoring, authoring, and postauthoring. In the preauthoring, scene definition, object modeling, and optional database conversation steps for the development of the virtual environment are included. In the authoring, there are sections for the virtual environment authoring, adding interactivity, package application, and testing and debugging. In the postauthoring, the final version of the application is presented to an expert and necessary improvements are carried out.

Scene definition

At this stage, the design to be created using storyboards and the actions to be performed have been visualized. Four different application scenes were designed for the VR-FST environment. The first scene provides participants practical experience. After giving some information about using the VR-FST, participants can learn their roles and become able to use the VR-FST effectively through their avatars. In this scene, participants’ skills for using HMD and joystick are enhanced. In the second scene, participants were taken to another home designed on VR-FST. Before the application of behavioral skills training (BST), participants could observe and record for their natural behaviors in case they encounter a residence fire created by using fire and smoke effects. In the third scene, participants were taken to a home environment and skills training as basic fire safety were taught to them by an expert. During this training, a fire effect was created in a house environment where the participant and expert are in. In the fourth scene, the participants was taken to a different home environment and faced with another fire situation again. In this scene, participants observed the behaviors related to the relevant fire situation. Participants were guided to show appropriate behavior by intervening and giving feedback when they could not exhibit the expected behavior.

Object modeling

In this stage, two different modeling methods are used: geometric and behavioral modeling. Buildings and fire effects in the VR-FST environment are created by using geometric modeling. The Marketplace in SL contains home designs and fire and smoke effects created by other users. During the design of VR-FST, available designs and effects in Marketplace were used. In the framework of behavioral modeling, behaviors and actions of avatars in the environment are modeled. Avatars in SL can be used without any movement modeling and the walking and speaking actions of the avatars are automatically modeled by the SL.

Optional database conversation

SL can store the designs and effects created on it in a special database for each user under the title of Inventory. Created models can be accessed from the Inventory and used repeatedly. Because of this feature of the SL, there is no need to use a database structure.

Virtual environment authoring

In this study, the models created for the VR-FST were placed on a special area on the SL called SandBox. These areas are used for experimental purposes, allowing design, modeling, and implementation in these areas. Before the implementations, the house in the Inventory of the SL was placed in the SandBox area by drag-and-drop. For the avatars that will represent users in the environment, it is enough for the users to log in to the SL and teleport to the related SandBox region.

Adding interactivity

The interaction of the avatars representing the users on the SL with the environment and the navigation actions in the environment are predesigned in software. Users do not need to add software interaction features as these actions and interactions was provided naturally after they log in to the SL.

Package application

In this study, the media and materials used are stored in the Inventory of the SL. The design and effects can be transferred to the virtual environment by drag-and-drop from the Inventory and can be created repeatedly without any additional intervention. SL did not need to convert the VR-FST application to a packaged format since the active user automatically saves the last location into his or her database and the desired design can be performed quickly and easily.

Testing and debugging

Designs and effects to be used in the VR-FST have been investigated through the drag-and-drop method in the Inventory several times on the media and encountering any problems at all times. It has been determined that the effects and materials to be used as a result of the tests carried out will operate stably without any errors.

Deliver final application to expert

In this study, the developed VR-FST application was presented to two experts in the field of Computer and Instructional Technologies and an expert firefighter.

Evaluation

The usability of the VR-FST environment to provide basic fire safety skills was evaluated with a pilot study. The pilot study was conducted with six children aged 9 to 11 years. Since the participants were so young, required permissions were obtained from their parents prior to the study. Participants were taught with fire safety training for residential fires by a firefighter avatar in the VR-FST environment. After the training, several tasks such as exploring and finding an object hiding in a home designed on VR-FST and they were requested to complete these tasks using HMD and joystick. While they were working on the tasks they encountered fire and smoke effects. During the study, the behavioral skills of children in VR-FST were observed. The realistic perception level of the environment was evaluated according to the data obtained from the questionnaire. Images related to the training and implementation are presented in Figure 5.

Figure 5.

Training and implementations visuals.

Test & iterate quickly

In the pilot study, the VR-FST was tested by the participants and the expert firefighter several times.

Results

At this last stage, the usability of the VR-FST to provide basic fire safety skills has been put forward in the framework of the data obtained from the pilot study. At the end of the pilot study, a Turkish version of the presence questionnaire (PQ) developed by Witmer, Jerome, and Singer (2005) was carried out to determine the level of presence felt by the VR-FST environment. The data are used to determine whether the VR-FST is a valid and reliable application for teaching basic fire safety skills. The scores of the participants’ PQ are shown in Figure 6. The mean presence scores reflect to the participants' evaluations about the VR based training environment.

Figure 6 shows that all of the participants evaluated the constructs of presence with the scores that are more than the average. This result shows that participants have a high level of presence in the VR-FST environment and perceive the environment as sufficiently realistic.

Expand on success

As persuasive design principles were applied in the development process of VR-FST, there was no implementation of the principle of expanding on success.

Overall, the development process of the VR-FST is schematized in Figure 7.

Figure 6.

PQ Scores.

Conclusion and Discussion

In this research, the design process of a VR-based learning environment, which is developed for children to acquire basic behavioral skills for fire safety is examined. VR-FST is a skill training environment created as a result of the integration of PT principles on VR. With VR-FST, children safe behavioral skills are tried to be enhanced.

In VR-based skills training, it is very crucial for users to perceive the virtual environment as realistic. The level of perceived real of the virtual environment is proportional to the behaviors and the nature of the responses to be given. The data obtained from PQ indicate that the level of presence provided by the VR-FST is high. This result suggests that PT may be an important model for dangerous situations such as fire. The presence in a virtual environment depends on the situation in which the individuals’ attention shifts from physical to virtual. However, at this time, attention must be completely shifted from the physical environment (Witmer & Singer, 1998). In this study, high presence level as in the real world reflects that the distance between virtual and physical environment experiences could be reduced by following the VR-FST stages.

SL, which provides the infrastructure of VR-FST in terms of both geometric and behavioral modeling, can substantially reflect the visual and physical phenomena and behaviors in real life. Users can use avatars which are representatives in the virtual environment, such as walking, running, bending, sitting, standing, and so forth, and can easily exhibit various physical behaviors. From a visual point of view, the position of the sun, cloud movements, wind and other environmental sounds can be perceived in SL as in the real world. The designed environment can be visualized through the lens of the avatar by integrating the HMDs. Thus, the users’ level of persuasiveness can be increased by transferring the head and body movements to the avatar in the VR environment. This can be considered as a contribution to the sense of reality and the level of interaction with the environment. Therefore, the platforms similar to SL with high level of persuasiveness can be preferred for developing behavioral skills via VR.

In this study, BST is used as a theoretical basis for modeling the behaviors for fire safety. In this sense, BST is considered as an effective method for teaching various safety skills, especially for children in young age groups (Houvouras & Harvey, 2014). One can infer from this study that BST is based on the ability of individuals to actively interact with simulated realistic environments. Thus, the results of the study address that VR-based environments are positively effected to the learning outcomes of skills training. While in this study basic behaviors were chosen to be developed, in future studies, using various BST approaches, the behavior pool can be enhanced to be simulated in VR environments. In particular, BST approaches can be employed in training for young age groups. Thus, it is considered that the BST approach can be a theoretical basis for skill training to be carried out in the VR environments by taking the learning-by-doing as a basis and by virtualizing it. Considering all of the stages of the suggested framework, the generic model schematized in Figure 8 can be suggested in the skill training to be carried out in VR environments.

Figure 7.

VR-FST development process.

Figure 8.

VR-based environment design model for acquire safe behavioral skills.

The VR-FST environment depicted in Figure 8 has been used to acquire behavioral skills in fire safety. In other studies, following the similar steps by integrating BST can be used to provide other safe behavioral skills such as fire safety, abduction prevention, firearm safety, poisoned substance safety, wild animals prevention, abuse prevention, and so forth.

Limitations and Implications

This study has several limitations and implications for future research. In this study, a design model for the development of VR-based learning environments which can be used in basic behavioral skills training was suggested. In this context, the ways for the proposed model can be applied in a developed environment (VR-FST). In future studies, the effect of the environments developed using this model can be examined through quantitative and qualitative data. The scope of the fire safety of basic behavioral skills may limit the generalization of the study findings. Thus longer observations may provide more details about the development of the behavioral skills. Although the selection and size of the study subjects may also limit the generalization of the study findings, it facilitated to keep their experiences in the virtual environment under control. For generalization, future studies might be conducted on a wider audience and the impact of the varying demographics with technological skills of the participants. By creating simulated training environments, the realistic level of the virtual environment can be tested and the transferability of the skills acquired in the virtual environment to real life conditions might be examined. This could also lead to a better distribution of responses in relation to the feeling of presence. Ultimately, this article is hoped to contribute to the efforts in the field of designing and implementing VR-based learning environments.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ünal Çakiroğlu, PhD, is an associate professor at Computer and Instructional Technologies Department of Trabzon University. His academic research focuses on instructional technologies, and his research interests include online learning technologies, virtual reality in education, learning analytics and technology integration.

Seyfullah Gökoğlu is a PhD at Computer Technologies Department of Cide Rıfat Ilgaz Vocational School, Kastamonu University, Turkey. Before joining Kastamonu University, he also was an Information Technologies teacher at Ministry of National Education, beginning in 2007. His research interests include distance education, teacher training, technology integration, and virtual reality.

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