Advancing Virtual Patient Simulations and Experiential Learning with InterPLAY: Examining How Theory Informs Design and Design Informs Theory

Abstract

Design-based research examines the role of theory in informing design, and the role of design in advancing theory. During the last year of a five-year NIH grant, a team of physicians, software engineers, and instructional designers at three public universities completed a series of iterative design studies to produce the first public release of NERVE—A virtual patient (VP) simulation created to give medical students standardized experiences in interviewing, examining, and diagnosing patients with cranial nerve disorders. The last year of the project, including the results of two cycles of expert reviews, one-to-one and small group evaluations, and a field test with 119 second-year medical students are reported by Hirumi et al. (2016a, 2016b). This article augments the previous papers by examining the pedagogical foundations of NERVE in greater depth. Specifically, we detail how the InterPLAY instructional theory was applied to design NERVE, and how the development and testing of NERVE lead to advancements in InterPLAY during the last year of research and development.