Summary

The use of simulation-based learning (SBL) has been demonstrated as effective in training students in professions such as social work. SBL is effective at teaching knowledge and competency-based skills and allows students the opportunity to move beyond just learning about something to doing something, and then reflecting, analyzing, and processing it, leading to improved responses in the future. Mental health issues for young people were exacerbated by the pandemic while students faced reduced availability of real-life practice opportunities, impacting their readiness for social work practice. Therefore, the authors adapted practice and experiential learning opportunities within an online environment to support students’ clinical practice development. The SBL scenario was adapted for online and virtual use in order to teach students how to respond to young people’s experiences of gender-based violence (GBV) within BSW and MSW level courses. The focus was on evaluating student learning, skill development and reflective practice. Data Analysis involved examining student reflective practice and evaluating student performance in using clinical skills in the SBL experiences. Preliminary results illustrate that GBV is still an area that requires specific skill development and the online environment is effective for student learning. Adapting in-person SBL to both live and virtual online formats has been successful in ensuring that students receive practice opportunities in a safe environment to enhance their social work competence. This workshop will discuss this innovative training approach using Virtual Gaming Simulations (VGS) to increase access to training and upskilling opportunities for both student and professional practitioners working with youth experiencing GBV.  Presenters will discuss the use of SBL as a pedagogical approach to training practitioners in this field and provide opportunities for participants to engage in the experiential VGS learning experience directly.  Applications for social work practice with young people will be discussed.   

Keywords (separate with commas)

Simulation-based learning, Virtual Gaming Simulations, Social Work Education, Child/Youth Mental Health, Skill Development