FORTRESS or DEMI-PARADISE?

IMPLEMENTING and EVALUATING PROBLEM-BASED

LEARNING in an IMMERSIVE WORLD
Maggi Savin-Baden,
Coventry University, UK
[email protected]

This other Eden, demi-paradise,

This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war, (Richard II Act 2 scene 1)

Abstract. This paper suggests that there is a lack of pedagogical underpinning relating to the use of virtual worlds
in higher education, for example there are currently few research papers that suggest why such worlds are being
used. The paper presents a project (Problem-based Learning in Virtual Interactive Educational Worlds
(PREVIEW) that sought to combine pedagogy with technology, which has been tested in health, medicine, social
care and education, physiotherapy and psychology.

Keywords: Problem-based Learning, Immersive Virtual Worlds, E-Learning

Introduction
Learning in immersive virtual worlds (simulations and virtual worlds such as Second Life) has become a central
learning approach in many curricula. Most research to date has been undertaken into students' experiences of virtual
learning environments, discussion forums and perspectives about what and how online learning has been
implemented. Immersive virtual worlds (IVWs) offer different textualities that are increasingly ushering in new
issues such as temporality and spatiality becoming not just contested but dynamic and intersected by one another.
This paper suggests that there is a lack of pedagogical underpinning relating to the use of virtual worlds in higher
education. The paper presents a project (Problem-based Learning in Virtual Interactive Educational Worlds
(PREVIEW) that sought to combine pedagogy with technology. It is argued the current lack of pedagogical
underpinning has introduced a number of difficulties which might be overcome by using approaches that readily
combine pedagogy with technology, thereby shifting from the fortresses of VLEs to the (semi) paradise of IVWs.

Background
Problem-based learning (PBL) was popularised in the 1980s, partly in response to the predominantly content-driven
transmission educative model of the time. It arose out of a desire to give students the opportunity to apply practices
and theoretical knowledge to problems or scenarios within the professional or clinical setting, crucially in interactive
collaboration with colleagues, thus replicating features of the real-life context of application. It has become an
increasingly influential approach in curricula in a variety of settings, across a range of subject areas. The increasing
adoption of problem-based learning (PBL) and the growth in online learning each reflect the shift away from
teaching as a means of transmitting information, towards supporting learning as a student-generated activity. To date
problem-based learning (PBL) has been seen as a relatively stable approach to learning, delineated by particular
characteristics and ways of operating. Most of the explanations of and arguments for problem-based learning, thus
far, have tended to focus on (or privilege) the cognitive perspectives over the ontological position of the learner.
However, facilitating this collaborative approach to participation and learning is considerably more challenging in
self-directed and distance learning contexts, due to difficulties associated with effective discussion between
geographically and spatially disparate learners. Linking PBL with IVWs brings other challenges, which are evident
in the IVW literature: there has been growth in the research into students' experiences of virtual learning
environments, discussion forums and perspectives in terms of what and how online learning has been implemented.
Authors1 2 3 have explored students’ perspectives of e-learning and the findings would indicate students’ experiences
of e-learning are more complex and wide-ranging than was first realised. At the same time there is an increasing
interest in the use of immersive worlds for learning. One of the reasons for such interest appears to be a recognition
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that for students in workplace or competency-led courses, learning through case-based scenarios is an excellent
method for acquiring sound knowledge and developing decision-making and problem solving skills 4 5. Thus an
increasing number of curricula are based on a particular variant of case based learning: problem-based learning
(PBL) which is an approach in which students work in teams to manage or solve a problem 6. Guided by a tutor they
share their existing knowledge and understanding relevant to the scenario, agreeing on what they need to learn and
how to carry it out. Medicine and Healthcare education have used this approach in the UK since the mid 1980s but
there has been a shift in the last three years toward moving into online and immersive spaces 7 8. The rationale for
using learning in IVWs in higher education, it is suggested here, is because practicing skills within a virtual
environment online offers advantages over learning through real-life practice, in particular the exposure of learners
to a wide range of scenarios (more than they are likely to meet in a standard face-to-face programme) at a time and
pace convenient to the learner, together with consistent feedback.

Informing Literature
It could be argued, and increasingly is, that cyberspace has resulted in a sense of multiple identities and
disembodiment, or even different forms of embodiment. The sense of anonymity and the assumption that this was
what was understood through one’s words rather than one’s bodily presence, is becoming increasingly unmasked
through worlds such as Second Life. However, before this is explored it is perhaps helpful to delineate current forms
of PBL. Face-to-Face problem-based learning was an approach popularised by Barrows and Tamblyn9 following
their research into the reasoning abilities of medical students at McMaster Medical School in Canada. This was
because they found that students could learn content and skill, but when faced with a patient could not apply their
knowledge in the practical situation. Barrows and Tamblyn’s study and the approach adopted at McMaster marked a
clear move away from problem-solving learning in which individual students answered a series of questions from
information supplied by a lecturer. In this early version of problem-based learning certain key characteristics were
essential. Students in small teams would explore a problem situation and through this exploration were expected to
examine the gaps in their own knowledge and skills in order to decide what information they needed to acquire in
order to resolve or manage the situation with which they were presented. Problem-based learning online is defined
here as students working in teams of four to six on a series of problem scenarios that combine to make up a module
or unit that may then form a programme. Students are expected to work collaboratively to solve or manage the
problem. Students will work in real-time or asynchronously, but what is important is that they work together.
Synchronous collaboration tools are vital for the effective use of PBLonline because tools such as Chat, Shared
Whiteboards, Video conferencing and Group browsing are central to ensuring collaboration within the problem-
based learning team. Students may be working at a distance or on campus, but they will begin by working out what
they need to learn to engage with the problem situation. This may take place through a shared whiteboard,
conferring or an email discussion group. What is also important is that students have both access to the objectives of
the module and also the ability to negotiate their own learning needs in the context of the given outcomes.
Facilitation occurs through the tutor having access to the ongoing discussions without necessarily participating in
them. Tutors also plan real-time sessions with the PBLonline team in order to engage with the discussion and
facilitate the learning. However, it is questionable as to whether there is value in using real-time PBLonline for
students undertaking the same programme at the same university, unless it is used because of long distances between
campus sites where students are using the same problem-based learning scenario. There also needs to be questions
asked about whether having asynchronous teams adds something different to PBLonline. Certainly, in distance
education, across time zones and campus sites, this would be useful and suit different students' lives and working
practices. Yet this raises problems about how cooperative and collaborative it is possible to be, in terms of sharing
learning and ideas and developing forms of learning that are genuinely dialogic in nature. Although PBLonline
combines problem-based and online learning, in doing so it is recognised that students learn collaboratively through
web-based materials including text, simulations, videos and demonstrations. Resources such as chatrooms, message
boards and environments have been purpose-built for PBL; both synchronously and asynchronously, on campus or
at a distance. Practising skills within a virtual environment online offers advantages over learning through real-life
practice, in particular the exposure of learners to a wide range of scenarios (more than they are likely to meet in a
standard face-to-face programme) at a time and pace convenient to the learner, together with consistent feedback. It
offers learners the chance to make mistakes without real-world repercussions. One such example is the PREVIEW
project. This project is investigating implementing and evaluating a user-focused approach to developing scenarios
and materials, linking the emerging technologies of virtual worlds with interactive PBL online, to create immersive
collaborative tutorials.

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Fortress to demi paradise?
New learning spaces and emerging technologies such as wikis and podcasts offer new possibilities in terms of
communication in distance learning, but also present limitations and barriers in terms of the presentation of the self,
meaningful synchronous interaction, and team-building. For these reasons, caution must be exercised when making
claims for their equivalence to the communicative modalities of the face-to-face setting. When seeking to implement
PBLOnline, purpose-built educational virtual learning environments (VLEs) such as Blackboard may also be limited
and limiting. These digital spaces (VLEs) have prompted concerns about both containment and exteriorisation in
online environments10- containment is particularly evident in VLEs, inherent in their structuring and management of
learning. However, in order to facilitate meaningful engagement in PBL in the online environment, the need for
creative and authentic self-representation, a sense of co-presence, immediacy, and rich multimodal communicative
spaces should also be addressed. This will provide an environment in which a pseudo-authentic feel, complexity and
a sense of ‘messy’ decision-making that occurs in real time can be achieved. Although resources and environments
for PBLonline have been developed, they have not hitherto provided this degree of immersion. With these issues in
mind, the PREVIEW (Problem-based learning in virtual interactive educational worlds) project was initiated, in
order to investigate the feasibility of using a virtual world to deliver problem-based learning to distance learning
students, and to better understand the potential of participation in this environment and the benefits and challenges it
offers collaborative working and learning. The project team, led by Coventry University and its partner St George’s
University of London (SGUL) implemented and evaluated a user-focused approach to developing problem-based
learning environments and ‘good practice’ materials. This was achieved by linking the emerging technologies of
virtual worlds with interactive PBL online to create immersive, collaborative tutorials in the virtual world of Second
Life (SL), which allows distance learners from the geographically distant institutions to meet ‘in-world’ and
collaborate around a case. This environment differs radically from the VLE in that it draws on a primarily visual set
of semiotic resources with each participant having an online presence, or avatar, to aid their communication.

The aims of the PREVIEW project were to

(1) deliver problem-based learning in Second Life, (2) develop eight interactive PBL scenarios, (3) guide
development and evaluation alongside users, (4) develop guidelines and best-practice on delivering PBL in virtual
environments and (5) share outputs and technology.

A variety of problem-based learning scenarios were developed within SL for distance-learning students at the two
institutions. The project was introduced to the part-time MA in Health and Social Care Management, a distance
online programme for students across the midlands of England. The project was also implemented on the second
year of the Paramedic Foundation Degree at Coventry University. This is a three-year in-service blended learning
programme, with 70% of its materials provided via Blackboard, to practice-based students based in London and
various locations in the south of England. The PBL scenarios were categorised in two ways: information-driven
scenarios via machinima videos, and avatar-driven scenarios using artificially intelligent SL avatars, otherwise
known as chat bots. PBL scenarios were developed for use within Second Life. For each course, two avatar-driven
scenarios were to be developed, as well as two information-driven scenarios.

Avatar-Driven: The PBL was set in appropriate surroundings (e.g. at the patient’s home, in the hospital ward) and
the patient or staff member was represented by a non-player character (NPC). Initial information was given by the
NPC or pre-recorded avatars, such as (an avatar discussion in) a machinima, and the students would then discuss
how to proceed, as in any PBL. Additional information was presented on display screens (via text, image, video,
animation or external links), notecards, touchable objects or sound streams or through the 'chat' function of any
NPCs involved in the scenario. Information-Driven: This scenario was to be presented through multiple interactive
screens in SL. These screens presented text, images, sound and video footage as necessary. The information on
display changed depending on the students’ decisions, similar to the virtual patient model already used at SGUL; the
difference being SL allowed multiple information screens and a collaborative environment so that the students could
interact withYou
Scenario oneeach
another as well
represent as of
a part thethe
scenario. An example
management of one
of an NHS of the problem-based
residential learning
/ nursing care service scenarios at
– The
Coventry
Cedars Care Complex. There is community concern about the Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection and about
University, based in a virtual care home for those with learning disabilities, is a difficult situation your an
outbreak of disease within the facility (see Figure 1 below).
own service is experiencing higher rates of deaths than the average. A front page newspaper article published
today is not helping matters.

Explanation The students arrive in world to the Cedars care complex. In the office area there is a ringing
phone, which when answered, is a message from the local councillor who says he will be along shortly to 3
discuss the C. diff crisis. There is information in the room such as web links and the newspaper article. When
the students are ready, they can press a button on the table to call the councillor who subsequently arrives
within a few seconds. The students then interact with the councillor a chatbot) and discuss his concerns. When
the interaction is finished the councillor is scripted to disappear and instructs them to create a plan for what to
do next. At this point the students must work on a plan together for the next course of action for the care home.
Figure 1 Example of PBL Scenario in Second Life

The role of the students, as a collaborative exercise, is to gather as much information about the situation and the
disease as possible using a variety of information-driven methods before moving on to an avatar-driven method. The
students are required to interact with a ‘chat bot’ to distinguish what their next actions should be. Feedback
suggested that the information-driven scenarios did not work as well as avatar-driven, and the scenarios were
restructured slightly to compensate for the students’ comments that they did not feel as immersed into the
environment with information-driven scenarios. The decision was made to design all the health care scenarios as
avatar-driven to provide for a truly immersive and realistic experience. An iterative process was used when
implementing and evaluating the PBL scenarios. At several stages throughout the project, testing of each scenario
was undertaken, and the feedback from the students’ experiences was analysed to improve on the scenarios. The
scenarios were then reviewed further alongside students to ensure the feedback had been beneficial to the project.

Project outcomes and future possibilities

It was anticipated that the technological demands and initial lack of user friendliness of SL would be a barrier to
participation. However, when the PREVIEW project underwent testing by staff and students, few access barriers
were reported, although this may become more of an issue with wider implantation of this approach. However,
students who were beginners to the SL environment needed more time than anticipated to explore and experiment
with the virtual world, and familiarise themselves with the new environment; mock scenarios became an important
strategy in this process. This suggests that a degree of initial strangeness and discomfort may have been experienced
by the participants, which is significant when considering that they would need a tolerable degree of conformity
with the visual /kinetic /semiotic resources of the world and their avatar identity, before they could devote
meaningful attention to group collaboration around a problem. Preliminary results from the project indicate that SL
holds a great deal of potential for PBL. Students seemed able to use their avatars to communicate, collaborate and
problem solve effectively. The level of realism and immersion of the scenarios seemed to be enhanced by the virtual
world environment, including the option to use voice in addition to text-based communication, and students reported
that it felt like a more ‘authentic’ learning environment than PBL based in VLEs. Students responded
enthusiastically to the environment, interestingly tending to initially treat it as a ‘game’. This (common) association
of the look and feel of SL with online gaming may arguably be a limitation in the educational setting - in that it
could encourage individualism rather than collaboration, and may simplify scenarios in which more nuanced critical
engagement is required and no one clear solution is available. However, it is likely to also be an advantage in that it
may increase student enjoyment and motivation via memorably novel forms of participation.

This project developed an innovative approach to address problems faced by courses which wish to use
collaborative scenario-based learning as a tool for the learning of competency, but are restricted in their
opportunities for face to face learning. The approach took advantage of the new opportunities offered by immersive,
3-dimensional multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) which provide the authenticity of a simulated real-world
environment, and the open-ended nature of in-world activity. This may not be the first time that an attempt has been
made to develop immersive scenarios, however we believe this may be the first use of PBL in immersive worlds in
this way. Furthermore we believe this work goes some way to engaging with the taxonomy suggested by Schmidt
and Moust11for using problems in order to acquire different kinds of knowledge, rather than solving problems or

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covering subject matter. The importance of the work undertaken by Schmidt and Moust is not only the way they
provide and explicate different problem types, but also their exploration of the way in which the questions asked of
students guide the types of knowledge in which students engage. A particular strength of Second Life as a learning
environment is that it provides a variety of communication tools which are particularly important for PBL.
Furthermore to date problem-based learning has been seen as a relatively stable approach to learning, delineated by
particular characteristics. Using PBL in Second Life embraces issues connected with complex curriculum design and
the need for complex PBL scenarios to be developed. All the planned scenarios were delivered, and significant
changes were made during development to take most advantage of Second Life’s strengths. Students appreciated the
value of Second Life as a collaborative environment, but also viewed such practice-based simulations as valuable for
individual work.

An interesting consequence of the richness and authenticity of the Second Life scenarios is the large amount of
detail provided, much more than is usual in paper-based face-to face PBL sessions. Second Life can provide a more
authentic learner environment than classroom based PBL and therefore changes the dynamic of facilitation, but at
this stage it is not clear how such detailed virtual reality impacts on the way the scenario is used and facilitated.
While the facilitators expressed the view that the scenarios produced were appropriate and fit for purpose, it is
revealing that none would currently consider adopting them in a live presentation of a course. The main reasons
concerned the time needed for facilitation, usability, and access to Second Life. Teachers considered the time
required for Second life facilitation of large groups of students was comparatively very high (in comparison
compared to their normal commitment to in face to face sessions with students). Clearly an approach which required
such tutor facilitation would not succeed, and in retrospect it would have been appropriate to examine an alternative
approach based on lead-student facilitation. The relatively high technology demands were considered a major barrier
for students, since the Second Life programme issues severe warnings during initial downloading to those with PCs
which fall below its optimum specification. This can be confusing, since in many instances of such warnings the
programme will in practice run quite adequately, but users will not necessarily proceed to install the programme, to
discover this for themselves. During testing on university premises, there were minimal access problems and these
only caused minor annoyance. However, students reported difficulties in obtaining access from halls of residence,
and inadequate specification of their own machines. Facilitators highlighted this as an issue for distance learning
with cohorts on these courses.

Savin-Baden6, points out that facilitation of PBL is itself a source of concern for many teachers and that there are
differences and tensions to be resolved between online and face to face facilitation This is an important area for
further research. The user-guided collaborative development model enabled rapid and timely modification to the
scenarios and the complementary expertise in the multi-disciplinary team provided effective sharing of learning both
within and beyond the team. Given the success of PREVIEW as a demonstrator, it is essential to build on these
results to promote the embedding of scenarios in courses in terms of:

• Further development and research to develop models and understanding of good practice in areas such as
scenario design in Second Life/ MUVEs,
• Exploration of technology reuse and repurposing,
• Locating mechanisms to improve usability,
• The development of PBL facilitation practices for MUVEs.

Conclusion
The curriculum to some extent remains a partitioned-off space where policy and expectations of governments are
increasingly seen as given rather than negotiable, contingent or contextual, both in terms of space, place and
discipline. This project has a user-centred approach and has provided a strong pedagogical underpinning to the use
of virtual worlds in higher education. Developing open source pedagogically driven PBL scenarios such as these
may offer a new liquidity to learning, combining technology with pedagogy in ways that are mutually beneficial not
only in distance education, but also as a means to enrich the face-to-face learning environment. However, these
environments must be examined not only in terms of the new freedoms they may afford, but also in recognition of
their intermittently strange and ‘troubling’ nature, which may in itself provide potential for creativity12. In doing so,
we may extend the scope of our enquiry - not only considering what ‘learning’ means in such spaces, but also
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addressing more fundamental questions raised, such as the nature of emergent modalities of educational
communication, practices and identities in the ‘digital age’. Such a vision however, will require that we stop seeing
the curriculum as a predictable, ordered and manageable space, but instead re-view it as an important site of
transformation characterised by risk, uncertainty and radical unknowability.

References

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