Focus group

Four 1-hour focus groups were held with faculty from across Weber State University to explore Mursion's avatar-based simulations. The researchers tried to determine how useful these role-playing simulations might be and whether faculty at Weber would be interested in using them. Below are some of the ideas that came out of these discussions.

• Avatars may lesson anxiety of roleplaying with peers.

• Many possible applications exist in the health sciences.

• There could be some collaboration with the health sciences' "standardized patient" course, which teaches students how to act as patients in role-playing with health science students.

• Diverse avatars are available.

• It could help faculty prepare for meetings, such as grants or tenure and promotion.

• It could be Useful to train student tutors and faculty to have difficult conversations.

• Possible scenarios within various disciplines:

  • • As signature assignment for large gen ed groups to watch and respond to a Mursion roleplay.

    • In Health, as a signature assignment to small, upper division groups to have to interact with avatar in a role play with a final presentation to an avatar trained to ask questions that a physician would ask.

    • In Math, students could present results of a statistical analysis to a business meeting.

    • It can be used to teach many communication skills such as interviewing for jobs, managing conflict, and teaching I-statements and other communication content.

    • In Computer Science, scenario could present a mismatch of expertise in a meeting where the student has to communicate to a layperson about specifications.

    • In Accounting, a scenario with a client undergoing an audit.

    • In Accounting, a scenario with interaction between a Board and a Finance representative, with Board members (e.g., YMCA as nonprofit) better and less prepared to discuss financial situations.

    • In Foreign Language, it could be used for oral interpretation and translation, especially with avatars who are non-English speakers. It would not be useful, however, for basic language training.

    • Emergent Health Care: Could be used to prepare EMTs for oral exams, especially with realistic uncomfortable situations they will have to face with live people.

• Mursion by its nature is synchronous and is not integrated with Go-React in Canvas. It would be difficult to do in a purely online class.

• Some questioned how much lead time would be needed for scheduling simulations.

• In-person class role plays are preferred by students and are less work and less costly for faculty. Is it worth the cost?

• More research is needed to determine whether the avatars and simulation specialists bring value to the learning experience. What is the return on investment?

• How is the simulated role playing better than practice in the field in real situations?

• Because a single interactor, often a white woman, plays all of the avatars in a role play, there is concern of stereotyping when they play avatars of different races, ethnicities, gender identity and abilities.

• Avatars unable to convey nonverbals fully.

• Avatars create more divide and distance from authentic human experience in a society already used to dehumanization.

• Students may be more comfortable with avatars because they don’t have to take responsibility for their comments and reactions, as they would when role-playing with people they know.

• It would be useful if faculty can unpack the role plays with the class, pointing out areas of assumptions, etc.