Challenges

Team-based soft skills learning using VR

EdTech

Primary Challenge Owner: University of Applied Sciences Rotterdam
Secondary Challenge Owner(s): none

Background

To prevent unexpected situations from becoming emergencies, it is important to make the right, well-supported decisions based on clear communication. This requires so-called soft skills. It concerns a combination of the following soft skills: communication, cooperation, decision-making, adaptability (on team and individual) and leadership.

Behavioural change (under stress) is difficult to learn and can really only be developed by gaining practical experience in unexpected situations. As an educator, you do not want to leave this to chance and wish to create an immersive experience in which the student exhibits natural behaviour. Thorough and evaluation together of this behaviour creates a good learning experience that can be built upon.

The Maritime Officer course has been running a pilot for the past 2 years with a VR game in which we let students encounter unexpected situations to which they have to adapt as a team. With this we have demonstrated that this is an appropriate way to teach the students these soft skills. We are now looking for a high-quality, full-fledged product that can be used within multiple studies also regarding scalability and affordability.

The challenge

Develop a solution that enables students to train their softskills in unexpected stressfull situations as part of a team using Virtual Reality.

Criteria

This product must satisfy the following requirements:

  • The game must be available in both English and Dutch.
  • Whilst playing the game, the students must have the feeling that they are in a practical environment that they can link to their future field of work.
  • Students can play multiple scenarios so that they can put into practice what what they have learned in various ways, and the student’s learning curve is visible.
  • Debriefing, reflection, providing feedback, and reporting are all important parts of the learning process. It’s an additional benefit if the solution actively facilitates this.

Apply:

Do you have a possible solution for this challenge? Great! You can apply here. Fill in your email address to get full access to the documents and the application page. Applications will be accepted from April 4th until May 24th 2023.