Simulated interactions

Initial situation

The revision of the course outlines of the Master’s programs in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FPSE) has highlighted the issue of professionalization of learners. Specifically, the need to increase opportunities to articulate theory and practice in course outlines has emerged.

In order to tackle this situation, in September 2020, the “Simulated Interactions” project, which originated from simulations in the health field, was integrated into several FPSE courses in close collaboration with the teachers concerned.

Project implementation

In this project, teachers hire actors to participate in a role-play with students. The actors play the role of the patient while the students play the role of the psychologist. Actors are cast from professional or amateur acting troupes in Geneva and its surroundings. The actors are trained to give constructive feedback to the students according to the expected pedagogical objectives. Scenarios adapted to large groups have been constructed on a basis that can be shared and transferred to all courses, calling on human interaction skills (e.g., rules of communication) that correspond to the main needs of the Psychology and Education Science sections.

The actors interact with the students using the Stop&Go modality, developed on the basis of classic debriefing techniques in simulation. This innovative practice consists of short debriefings focused on the set pedagogical objectives. The debriefing is thus broken down throughout the simulated interaction. The students take turns to move forward as a team on the same scenario with intermediate feedback allowing them to continue the interaction after collective consultation and hypothesis generation. These new hypotheses are then tested directly by the groups of students with the simulated speakers during the class session.

In parallel, this “Simulated Interactions” project also produced video clips of simulated patients and organized simulated calls on the Psyline (a free listening and psychological support line for all members of the UNIGE community) as part of internships carried out by psychology students.

Two exams were conducted in simulated interactions (course “Motivational Interviewing” and final exam of the MAS in neuropsychology) with the intention for each of them to evaluate the practical professional skills of the candidates. An evaluation grid can then be made available to them, adapted to their needs.

Thoughts and advice

Simulation is crucial in the acquisition of practical skills and is now considered as a key element in determining the effectiveness of teaching and training, as well as providing students with the opportunity to access a realistic and safe situation outside the professional environment.

Through simulated interactions, what students previously learned only in theory is experienced as close to reality as possible. They were able to apprehend the effect produced by the implementation of such or such attitude in front of a human being, who in this training context gives them immediate feedback on their action and practice.

The Stop&Go technique can be shared and transferred to all training courses requiring learning about human interaction. The implementation of simulated interactions in a teaching context represents a significant investment of time and resources, especially in the first year (revision of the syllabus and objectives, recruitment/training of actors, finding a suitable room, etc.). This cost-benefit ratio and the skills to be developed in the students must be clearly defined before starting.

When the courses lead to an examination in simulated interactions, the project leader can propose to the teachers of each course an observation and/or evaluation grid, according to the needs defined in collaboration with the course leaders. She provides them with a basic example of a grid focused on interactional, relational and communicational skills, and then reworks it specifically for each course that requests it by adding technical and/or clinical items specific to each course.

Depending on the level of expertise, this grid can be presented to students before the simulated interaction sessions, as a preparation tool. When the students (especially experts) do not have access to the grid, it becomes an evaluation tool for the exam juries, and all the notions grouped in the grid must have been studied during the course.

Actors also have access to these grids when they exist; they appear in the script documents on the basis of which they are trained to act. They know what is expected of the students and can thus target their feedback.

Student feedback

“This course is absolutely great, and I’m glad I was able to participate. The theory sessions at the beginning of the semester make you feel more confident when you start the simulations. The simulations are a bit intimidating, but in the end the format allows for “down time” and encourages class discussion that promotes engagement. The assessment procedures are well suited to the subject matter, and allow for exploration of the theory in a different way.” “The strong point is the practical aspect, finally! The mock interviews are really a great opportunity to put yourself in a situation, to see what could happen in various situations and to start acquiring practical skills that will be useful later on (paying attention to your non-verbal language, rhythm, managing silences, staying on emotion here and now, etc.). The feedback as the interviews progressed was very interesting and allowed us to see what was going pretty well and what was not.” “The first courses on concrete maintenance techniques are very interesting. I really enjoyed watching the role plays, it’s really interesting to see how an entertien is built and how to adapt to different patients. I also liked the fact that the characters were very varied. Participating in the role plays was difficult for most of us I think, but I think everything was done to make the exercise as painless as possible (not too long to go through, ability to ask to stop if needed, no naming of the student who has to go through, etc.) and that is super appreciable!”