Charlotte Hoareau

Evaluation of procedural learning transfer from a virtual environment to a real situation: a case study on tank maintenance training

Virtual reality opens new opportunities for operator training in complex tasks. It lowers costs and has fewer constraints than traditional training. The ultimate goal of virtual training is to transfer knowledge gained in a virtual environment to an actual real-world setting. This study tested whether a maintenance procedure could be learnt equally well by virtual-environment and conventional training. Forty-two adults were divided into three equally sized groups: virtual training (GVT® [generic virtual training]), conventional training (using a real tank suspension and preparation station) and control (no training). Participants then performed the procedure individually in the real environment. Both training types (conventional and virtual) produced similar levels of performance when the procedure was carried out in real conditions. Performance level for the two trained groups was better in terms of success and time taken to complete the task, time spent consulting job instructions and number of times the instructor provided guidance. Practitioner Summary: A key issue for virtual environments for training (VETs) is the transfer of skills to real situations. An experiment investigated whether skills acquired in a VET could be applied in a real situation. Results suggest that a procedure can be successfully transferred from the virtual to the real.

Evaluation of Internal and External Validity of a Virtual Environment for Learning a Long Procedure

ABSTRACT Virtual reality is a frequently used tool in vocational training. Nevertheless, its efficiency has not been systematically tested. The main goal of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a virtual environment (VE) for learning a complex procedure in the biomedical domain. Two experiments were performed. The first one assessed internal validity of the VE, which is the effectiveness of using a VE in the process of learning a new procedure. The second one tested external validity of the VE, which is the participants’ ability to reproduce the acquired skills in a real context. We find that internal and external validity must be evaluated before using a virtual environment in long-term procedure learning. The results of such evaluations are a basis for future experiments aiming to optimize learning conditions in a VE and transferring the acquired skills in a real context.

A Pedagogical Scenario Language for Virtual Learning Environment based on UML Meta-model

Training to learn the use and maintenance of biomedical devices have various constraints. In order to complete these trainings, we proposed to use virtual reality based on pedagogical scenarios and Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). In this paper, we first established the existing pedagogical scenario models and ITS. Subsequently we presented our proposal of a formal model based on the concept of learning organization by extension of UML in order to describre some pedagogical scenario and ITS. The use of this model is illustrated by an application of a virtual biomedical analyzer with the aim of learning the technical procedures of the device. Finally, we performed two experiments in order to verify the efficiency of virtual reality training.