Abstract
Scope
The scope of this thesis is the affective learning which social and health assistant trainees, at an educational institution in Denmark, gain from taking part in a specific virtual reality dementia experience as a part of their regular training thus making it possible to experience how a person with dementia can perceive their surroundings, especially focusing on how their sensory system is affected through hallucinations/sensory stimuli by ordinary objects in a homely environment.
Purpose of the work
This thesis is based upon an empirical study and primarily explores the affective learning outcomes, which can be achieved using immersive virtual reality, as well as determining the informants’ individual development, on Krathwohls taxonomy for affective learning. Secondarily it examines how social interaction affects the informants affective learning process and the following learning outcome, using the theory of sensemaking by Weick. Further, in the light of activity theory by Engeström we explain how the activity system, which represents the activity of teaching dementia, will be altered using the VR dementia experience. Finally, it explores any correlation between the achieved affective learning outcome and demographic or individual variables, including age, educational level, perceived technology approach, experience with virtual reality, level of completion of the virtual reality experience, and primary perceptual learning style.
Methods used
The affective learning outcome has been examined through a case study consisting of qualitative as well as quantitative methods, more specifically observations, document studies, interviews, and questionnaires, of which mainly the interviews provided the key data in determining the affective learning outcome.
Conclusion
Our conclusions concerning the learning outcome are built upon a thematic analysis which examines the informants’ thoughts and actions regarding different themes relevant to working with people with dementia. The most significant learning outcome was by far detected in the theme dealing with their thoughts and actions focusing on sensory stimuli in the surroundings of a person with dementia. Also, we conclude that social interaction focusing on making sense of the virtual reality experience has a great effect on the learning outcome of the social and health assistant trainee. Further we conclude that the activity system which represents the activity of teaching dementia will retain most of the elements from the former activity system and additionally the virtual reality experience can contribute to the existing object and outcome of the activity. Merely the role of the teacher needs to change. Finally, we can neither confirm nor refute any correlation between the selected variables and the affective learning outcome.